Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
by Espeon of Shadows
Summary: In the Pokemon World, people begin their adventures by going out with a single Pokémon by their side, their heads filled with dreams and aspirations. In time, they realize that to complete their goals, they must learn more about Pokemon. This is where the Pokémon Academy comes in, helping young and starting trainers find their path in life. OCs accepted, requested, and needed.
1. Prologue

Espeon of Shadows here. Time for something I have never ever attempted before (allegedly) a submit your own OC story! Also (allegedly) a first, a story with actual Pokemon in it, and a story that is (allegedly) intended for all audiences!

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Prologue: Pokémon Academy Brochure: An Introduction

* * *

Greetings, Trainers, and welcome to the illustrious Pokemon Academy!

If you're here, reading this brochure, then that means you've chosen to take the next big step on your road to being a pokemon trainer, and seek a deeper understanding of your partners and the world we live in!

Now, are you a boy, or a girl?

Just kidding, whatever gender you may be couldn't matter the least!

At this school, you will spend 24 hours a day with pokemon of all shapes and sizes, both the pokemon you brought with you and those of your colleagues. All pokemon you are likely to encounter on our campus have either been raised in close proximity to humans all their lives, or have been raised by other skilled trainers such as yourself.

 **NOTE** : Any pokemon that a trainer does not believe they have full control over must be registered with campus safety and should not be released outside of sanctioned events under any circumstances. This will remain the case until a trainer can prove control over their pokemon to a level satisfactory to the head of campus safety, their advisor, and the Headmaster. Failure to abide by these rules will result in the offending party receiving the minimum punishment of being restricted to their dorm for a week (with the exception of going to classes) and being fined for the amount of damages inflicted on the campus, faculty, and fellow students, up to the maximum penalty of expulsion and informing the authorities depending on the severity of the event that takes place. POKEMON ARE NOT TOYS. Bringing an angry and violent pokemon that has not been fully trained onto campus is no different from bringing a loaded gun. For trainers who possess such pokemon that wish to participate in tournaments requiring six pokemon, please inform your faculty advisor, who will either inform campus safety and any opponents, or will find a sixth pokemon to loan to you for the duration of the tournament, depending on how violent and uncontrollable the pokemon truly is.

 **NOTE** : While it is permissible to capture wild pokemon found on campus, after doing so, please register any captured pokemon with campus wildlife faculty, and inform your advisor of any switches made to your registered party of pokemon. Pokémon not registered with campus officials may be confiscated for a period of up to a week in order to make sure that the pokemon do not pose a threat to other members of the student body.

Remember, that on this campus, all of your fellow students are powerful trainers with the same goals as you. They've all been accepted into this school through the recommendation of a teacher or by passing the rigorous administration test, so know that your fellow students will always be there to help you with your training, whether with a quick one on one battle or someone to practice moves with. Here at the Pokemon Academy we hope to build stronger bonds not only between students and pokemon, but between other students as well.

Here at the Pokemon Academy, students are expected to live on campus (special permission must be received from the head of campus housing and the students' advisor, as well as a writ from whoever the student will be staying with off campus/whoever owns the property the student will be staying in). It is a requirement that students live in the dorms for the first two years of campus life. After choosing a major, a student may petition for a single room to aid in their studies, but until that point students are expected to live with two roommates.

 **NOTE** : While it is acceptable for students to have their pokemon outside of their pokeballs at any point on campus, when in the dorms (or any other building) please be aware of the size limitations of some pokemon. After the "Aggron Incident" last semester, school policy dictates that pokemon with a height greater than 5 feet must remain in their pokeballs whenever inside a building, and UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES are pokemon allowed to use attacks while inside a building. (The only exception being the training facilities and sanctioned fights inside of the school gym)

 **Amendment** : Due to complaints in recent years about allergies to certain pokemon, students are now required upon submission of the filled out housing form to include a full roster of their pokemon, including which ones are likely to be outside of their pokeballs on a regular basis, as well as whatever pokemon they may or may not be allergic to. This will be taken into consideration during roommate assignments.

At the Pokemon Academy, there are several courses a student can take in their four years of attendance, as well as a multitude of different classes. It is not a requirement for students to declare which course they are planning to major in until their junior year, but please note that several of the courses have class requirements that must be met before that. For simplicity, the course that a student majors in can be determined by the color of armband they wear on their uniform.

 **Battle Course – Red Armbands**

The course where the majority of students enroll, the Battle Course is for trainers who wish to be Pokemon Masters, Gym Leaders, or that guy on Route 19 who just stands in one place without blinking until someone walks into his line of sight so he can challenge them to a battle. This course will teach students the finer points in battling, as well as how to draw out the combat potential within their pokemon. Please remember that, as the Battle Course, battling other students is a de facto part of the curriculum, so trainers wishing to major in this area must be responsible for maintaining the health and training of their pokemon at all times.

 **NOTE** : Students wishing to enroll in the Gym Leader course in their junior and senior years must take "Type Specialization" and "Type Advantage" at some point during their freshmen and sophomore years, or receive special approval from instructors in those courses.

 **Appeal Course – Blue Armbands**

In this course, trainers will learn how to draw out the potential of their pokemon in ways other than battling, such as Pokemon Contests, Movie Shoots, and Fashion. Furthermore, students in this course will also learn the finer mechanics of pokemon beauty maintenance and grooming, opening up doors for future fields in pokemon salon work.

 **Research Course – Yellow Armbands**

In the Research Course, students will learn more about pokemon themselves, as well as the inherent strengths and weaknesses between different species. Students within the Research Course often move on specialized colleges where they learn of the new sciences and technological discoveries going on every day. Students in the Research Course can look forward to fields in Pokemon Archaeology and Science, and possibly even becoming Pokemon Professors themselves.

 **NOTE** : Graduation from the Research Course will require a minimum of 50 hours spent interning with a Pokemon Professor or one of the teachers on campus.

 **NOTE** : Students wishing to enroll in the Pokemon Archaeology course in their junior and senior years must take either "Ancient Pokemon Civilizations" or "Pokemon Myths and Legends" during their freshmen and sophomore years or participate in a summer internship with Professor Reinhart to prove their knowledge in the area.

 **Caretaker Course – Green Armbands**

Students enrolling in the Caretaker Course will find the experience of working with pokemon to be a rewarding one. The classes will teach students how to determine the level and quality of care a pokemon has received just from their appearance, as well as learning how to better take care of their pokemon. The Caretaker Course is for students who wish to be Pokemon Breeders, Pokemon Doctors, or train pokemon to participate in the Pokeathlon. Please remember that by enrolling in this course, it is required for a student to sign up for volunteer work in the Pokemon Daycare Facility on campus.

 **NOTE** : Students wishing to enroll in the Caretaker Course must complete a minimum of 50 combined hours of volunteer work in the Pokemon Daycare Facility on campus during their freshmen and sophomore years.

 **NOTE** : Students wishing to enroll in the Pokemon Doctor Course must take Professor Lunark's "Pokemon Herbs and Potions" class in their freshmen or sophomore years, and students wishing to be Pokemon Nurses are required to have a pokemon of the Chansey evolution line in their party, must dye their hair pink, and can expect some light plastic surgery in the foreseeable future.

 **Ranger Course – Orange Armbands**

Students enrolling in the Ranger Course are special students wishing to become Pokemon Rangers. To enroll in this course, a student must receive letters of recommendation from three members of the faculty, including their advisor, and must be evaluated by the head of the Ranger Course personally. Students, upon enrollment in the Ranger Course, must agree to carry their pokemon outside of their pokeballs at all times. Upon graduation from the Pokemon Academy, any student in the Ranger Course will receive immediate enrollment in the Pokemon Ranger Academy, while getting to skip two years of the curriculum studied there, and enter as third year students.

 **NOTE** : Due to recent damages, students in the Ranger Course may now only have 1 pokemon with them at all times. Other pokemon are to be left with the on-campus Pokemon Daycare Facility. Furthermore, all previously stated rules about pokemon size will still apply to students in the Ranger Course.

 **NOTE** : Any student in the Ranger Course wishing to participate in a battle, school tournament, or is enrolled in a class requiring pokemon battles, must meet with a faculty member to receive six rental pokemon to use. STUDENTS ENROLLING IN THE RANGER COURSE ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE THEIR OWN POKEMON IN BATTLES.

 **NOTE** : While not mandatory, students in the Ranger Course may volunteer as members of campus security for extra credit. Students who do so will receive modified Capture Stylers to help tame rampaging pokemon.

Congratulations on your admission! Your very own pokemon school adventure is now beginning!

* * *

Okay all, here's how this is going to work. I'd like you all to fill out this following sheet for OC submissions.

Important rules to note:

I will initially be accepting a maximum of twenty OCs. I might get more, I'll probably get less, but twenty is going to be my starting limit. However, that doesn't mean I won't accept more later, it depends on how large of a scope I want my story to encompass. All the OCs are accepted through either PM or review.

I will only be accepting one OC per trainer INITIALLY. If someone wishes to submit more than one OC at a time, I will go with the first/top profile. This is mainly to ensure that anyone who wants to submit an OC will get the chance to do so, to prevent my twenty character starting limit from being filled by 10-12 people each submitting two OCs. IF by the time I feel like I want to stop accepting OCs and move ahead with the story my twenty character limit has not been met, I may go back around and choose the second character profile from each submission and go off that until I reach my cap, but THIS IS NOT LIKELY. Submit an extra if you like, but I'll probably only really pay attention to the first one.

Also, because of how I use my fanfiction account, I will likely read reviews before PMs. That means that if person #20 PMs me and person #21 posts in a review, I will probably see and accept person #21 first. If this happens, don't blame me, it's just reflex to read reviews first and I want to be fair.

Also, since this is a high school, romance and the like are going to be a fact of life. If you don't want your character to be a part of that, please say so. Otherwise, I may pair them off with someone at my discretion.

Similarly, trainers may catch wild pokemon, necessitating switches, and their pokemon may evolve. If there are any pokemon in your character's party you DO NOT WISH TO CHANGE OR REMOVE, please specify as such.

Now, onto the character profile.

 **Name** :

 **Age** : 15-18, preferably. No older than 18, as that's a graduating student, younger than 15 needs justification for why they are in high school.

 **Birthday:**

 **Gender** :

 **Sexual Orientation** : (optional)

 **Year** :

 **Home Region:** Where are you from?

 **Physical Features** : Height, Build, Hair Color, Eye Color? Significant features like prominent brow, big hands? Any scars? Be detailed and specific!

 **Clothes** : As a private school, students wear uniforms. However, when they aren't in class, what would they normally be wearing?

 **Contest Outfit** : (optional, Appeal Course only)

 **Significant Relationships** : Do you have a father, or is he ambiguously gone? Siblings? A boyfriend/girlfriend who isn't a student? A mentor? (Note: no one can be the child of a character from the show or the games, that's too much timeline synching for me, I'm trying to make this take place in an ambiguous continuity outside of canon.)

 **Skills/Talents** : What are you good at, both inside and outside of the battlefield? What are your skills as a trainer?

 **Hobbies/Interests** : What would you be doing when you aren't studying/attending class?

 **Preferred Course** : Battle Course? Appeal Course?

 **Future Aspirations** : What do you want to do after you graduate? Pokemon Master? Coordinator? Catch 'em all?

 **Learning Skills** : Are you someone who gets better at training with practice, or are you more strategy and planning oriented? Are you a visual or auditory learner? What are your best and worst subjects?

 **Personality:** What are your likes and dislikes? What kind of person are you? Do you have any fears? Are you always making people laugh? Are you a loner? A stand-up guy? Can you make friends with new people easily, or are you shy? Be detailed and specific!

 **Pokemon** :

Here are the rules for submitting pokemon. Characters are allowed 10 "points" that they can assign to their party. Stage 1 pokemon are 1 point, stage 2, 2 points, stage 3, 3 points. This is done for balance reasons, and to make it more fun. So for example, a party could have 1 stage 3, 2 stage 2s, and 3 stage 1s. Any variation, as long as it doesn't exceed 10 (you do not need to have a maximum of six pokemon in a party, however)

NO LEGENDARIES. CANNOT BE STRESSED ENOUGH. (While Legendary can sometimes be subjective, the basic rules for it are anything classified as a Legendary, and anything that is banned from any Battle Facility [Phione] as well. Takuto, I'm looking at you, here.)

Only 1 Starter Pokémon (By which I mean any of the grass/fire/water starters. Not Pikachu.) Similar to the anime, Starter Pokémon can be wild pokemon. Trainers may end up capturing another at some point or another, but I will be more likely to have a trainer without one capture one.

No two pokemon from the same evolutionary line (this is negotiable. Pokémon with diverging lines like Clamperl or Wurmple are acceptable on the same team, as are pokemon with different forms, AS LONG AS THAT FORM CANNOT BE CHANGED. If you have a burning desire for a team of six Unown, you are free to do so as long as they are all different letters, except...)

Only 1 Single Stage/Non-evolving Pokemon (Since they're generally stronger than basic pokemon, this keeps from overpowering the character with 2 stage 3s and 4 single stages)

Shinies. A trainer can have ONE Shiny Pokemon, and it will cost them an additional 2 points from their 10 to balance out their team. Therefore a Shiny stage 1 will cost 3 points, a Shiny stage 2 will cost 4 points, and a Shiny stage 3 will cost 5 points.

Mega Evolution: No one can have Mega Evolution. While it is acceptable to have pokemon capable of Mega Evolution, no one in this story will be capable of Mega Evolution in the beginning. DO NOT REQUEST FOR YOUR CHARACTER OR A POKEMON THEY HAVE TO GET MEGA EVOLUTION. If/When I decide to implement it, then I will choose whichever characters I wish to have Mega Evolution at my discretion, for the sake of story, and I will use any pokemon in the party for Mega Evolution that I wish. Although it is unlikely I would give the same Mega Evolution to two characters, that is not a guarantee and I may in fact give multiple characters the same Mega Evolution as I wish.

You may have no more than 1 of any of the following pokemon in your party, regardless of stage:

Pseudo-Legendaries (Regardless of the stages they are at, you cannot have a party of Dragonite, Tyranitar, Salamence, Metagross, Garchomp, Hydreigon and/or Goodra. Also, if you have a stage 3 pseudo-legendary, I would prefer it to be moody/disobedient [think Ash's Charizard, or overleveled traded pokemon in the games] at the beginning, or else battles become a little one-sided. If not, then I will most likely underuse your character until other characters catch up)

Pikachu Line

Eevee/Eeveelutions

Ralts Line

Riolu Line

Zorua Line

(I can count the number of submit-your-own-OC stories that didn't have a character with one of those pokemon in it on one hand. If you want one, you can't have any of the others or any pseudo-legendaries)

Also, Levels and Competitive Pokémon. As you can tell from my past stories, I don't really care as much about "competitive viability" or "stat distribution" for my character's pokemon, nor do I make my character's pokemon evolve "the instant it reaches level 'x'." You may remember that two of Aoshi's pokemon were the rather terrible Vileplume and a Clefairy that didn't evolve for 70+ chapters, and yet both were very strong (although he also had the one mon army of Cara and the badass Eve, as well as pseudo-legendary Lauren and Ryoko in later chapters). Aurore's party is probably the worst of them all at a competitive level, and yet he's regarded as one of the best trainers of all time. The reason why is because if this story actually reflected in game attributes, then every party would be way too similar and the battles will be more boring. Similarly to the anime, pokemon evolve much more randomly, and level, while having some to do with it, isn't an automatic trigger. Experience is also important, as in this story, battle experience =/= level (although it's a big factor) hence why certain character's pokemon can win against stronger ones, even without type advantage. While level is important, I don't want it to be overwhelming, just as how a stage 1 could theoretically beat a stage 2 or stage 3 in battle. Plus, I will be focusing more on physical attributes than direct stat distributions. (Regardless of what the anime says, Raichu IS faster than Pikachu despite being twice the size. Explain that.) In order to give people a chance for their characters to use pokemon they LIKE, as opposed to pokemon that are stronger.

 **Pokemon/Nickname:**

 **Level** :

 **Gender** :

 **Ability:**

 **Special Moves** : TM/HM? Breeding? Tutors? If not, I'll just go with their learned moveset. Also like the anime, NOT LIMITED TO FOUR MOVES.

 **Personality** : What kind of quirks does it have? How does it fight? Does it get along with other pokemon? Super attached to their trainer? Moody/violent?

 **Friends** : What kind of person would be a good friend for your character? Do they get along with just about anyone? What kind of person could they live in a room with?

 **Relationships** : (optional) What kind of person is your character attracted to? Who would they see themselves getting along well with, and how would they treat someone they were attracted to? Is there anyone that your character COULDN'T be in a relationship with, no matter what? Although I don't want their tastes designed with a specific character in mind, feel free to request your character being paired with someone, but the choice is at my discretion.

 **Other** : Anything else not covered above that you think would be significant for your character, or I should know about.

I'll start with two of my characters for example:

 **Name** : Blake Harker

 **Age** : 15

 **Birthday:** November 11

 **Gender** : Male

 **Sexual Orientation** : Straight

 **Year** : Freshman

 **Home Region:** Kalos

 **Physical Features** : Moderate height, 5'7", and an athletic build. Messy brown hair, brown eyes. Looks a little younger than he is, but can look surprisingly mature at times. Often smiling.

 **Clothes** : When not in uniform, generally comfortable clothes like loose pants/shorts in varying colors from white to gray and black, and gray or black t-shirts. Wears a pair of headphones around his neck that he uses to listen to music.

 **Significant Relationships** : Parents, neither are trainers, both live in Kalos. Has an older brother named Kanone who he sees as a rival.

 **Skills/Talents** : Very good at telling how strong an enemy pokemon is, and knows which pokemon to send out against it, even if it doesn't have a type advantage. Fairly good at strategy, but relies on instinct and trust more. He's also rather athletic, mainly skilled in running.

 **Hobbies/Interests** : Training his pokemon, reading, and playing video games, as well as hanging out with friends.

 **Preferred Course** : Battle Course

 **Future Aspirations** : Wants to become a good pokemon trainer. Not necessarily a Pokemon Master, but at least better than his brother.

 **Learning Skills** : Better at hands-on learning and instruction than bookwork, and is much better at training by practicing with his pokemon. Not very good at classes that require a lot of formulas, but good at classes involving hands-on work and memorization.

 **Personality:** Blake is a relatively nice guy, and will crack jokes in class, but isn't generally one to initiate contact with others. However, he gets along with almost anyone, and can make friends easily, as long as he isn't the one initiating the friendship. He's the kind of person who people like to have around and is always noticeable in a group, but is rarely the one who suggests "let's do this", being more likely to get swept into things by others.

 **Pokemon** :

 **Pokemon/Nickname:** Snivy – Tara

 **Level** : 28

 **Gender** : Female

 **Ability:** Overgrow

 **Special Moves** : Glare, Pursuit, Iron Tail (In progress), Synthesis, Taunt, Attract

 **Personality** : Moody, does not get along well with others, but can be very sweet sometimes. A tsundere through and through.

 **Pokemon/Nickname:** Boldore – Rogen

 **Level** : 30

 **Gender** : Male

 **Ability:** Sturdy

 **Special Moves** : Heavy Slam, Magnitude, Rock Tomb

 **Personality** : As a Roggenrola, it tackled people it was close to as a sign of friendship. It has continued that tradition, though now with a much bigger body. Full of energy, if it tackles you it either wants to be friends or it wants to battle.

 **Pokemon/Nickname:** Corphish – Cory

 **Level** : 25

 **Gender** : Male

 **Ability:** Adaptability

 **Special Moves** : Aqua Jet, Metal Claw, Waterfall

 **Personality** : Competitive and enjoys fighting, Corphish challenges any pokemon it comes across to a battle. Easily angered and hates to lose, Corphish trains the hardest out of any of Blake's pokemon.

 **Pokemon/Nickname:** Scizor – Weiss

 **Level** : 38

 **Gender** : Male

 **Ability:** Technician

 **Special Moves** : Double Team, Steel Wing, Flash Cannon

 **Personality** : Laid back and relaxed, Scizor is the toughest pokemon on Blake's team, but doesn't like fighting that much; though if used, is a lethal foe. Acts as a mentor to Blake's other pokemon, and keeps them in line if they act out. Very smart and quick on its feet, much like Blake himself.

 **Pokemon/Nickname:** Solosis – Uni

 **Level** : 22

 **Gender** : Female

 **Ability:** Magic Guard

 **Special Moves** : Calm Mind

 **Personality** : Friendly and affectionate, but a little shy. Doesn't like fighting or getting hurt very much, and is generally kind of afraid of other pokemon, especially dark and ghost types.

 **Pokemon/Nickname:** Salamence – Sarah

 **Level** : 58

 **Gender** : Female

 **Ability:** Intimidate

 **Special Moves** : Dragon Rage, Dragon Rush, Dragon Dance

 **Personality** : Completely disobedient in almost every way. In spite of being Blake's strongest pokemon, it's never used due to being unable to control. While holding some feeling of affection for Blake, it doesn't respect his skill as a trainer, and will refuse to follow his orders. Only fights seriously against other dragon type pokemon.

 **Friends** : Blake gets along well with just about anyone, except people that are just jerks. The kind of people he would get along best with are people who are always doing something and always active, and don't mind inviting Blake to join in.

 **Relationships** : Similar to friends, Blake is attracted to girls who are independent and always doing their own thing. Specifically, girls that are always in the process of doing something, and wind up dragging him along for the ride.

 **Other** :

 **Name** : Dakota Evans

 **Age** : 16

 **Birthday:** April 6

 **Gender** : Female

 **Sexual Orientation** : Straight

 **Year** : Sophomore

 **Home Region:** Kalos

 **Physical Features** : Short, 5'3", and slim. Messy bright red hair, brown eyes, and always smiling. Always brushing bangs out of her eyes. Sometimes wears glasses when trying to look smart, but it is unknown if she needs them or not.

 **Clothes** : Wears clothes that are generally comfortable to move around in, like shorts, skirts, and t-shirts, as they help her move quicker when hiding. Always has her camera with her.

 **Significant Relationships** : Mother and father are both journalists, and her older sister is a news anchor.

 **Skills/Talents** : Can tell when people are lying, and can sniff out a good story in an instant. She's capable of taking five pictures in a second with her camera. Can tell the age, gender, and level of a pokemon just from a photograph. Very good at making up stories and embellishing, as well as coming up with convincing lies for why she's somewhere she shouldn't be on the fly.

 **Hobbies/Interests** : Writing, investigating, finding conspiracies where none exist, and taking pictures of trainers and their pokemon.

 **Preferred Course** : Appeal Course/Research Course

 **Future Aspirations** : Wants to become a world famous reporter on pokemon, from battle commentary to uncovering new discoveries.

 **Learning Skills** : HATES book work. In her eyes, anything that can be learned in a book can be experienced firsthand. Her skills at observation allow her to learn solely through demonstration, and she can do almost anything after seeing it performed a few times.

 **Personality:** While a nice person, Dakota is a little nosy, (a lot nosy) and can be seen as annoying by some. When she's found something she thinks would make a good story, she investigates, and if she finds someone that interests her journalistic curiosity, she has absolutely no problems intruding onto their lives and invading their privacy for the sake of a good scoop. Has no qualms about publishing information about other people, and sometimes (always) exaggerates things. Because of this, she has a hard time making friends, although this doesn't seem to bother her that much.

 **Pokemon** :

 **Pokemon/Nickname:** Chatot – Chatter

 **Level** : 25

 **Gender** : Male

 **Ability:** Keen Eye

 **Special Moves** : Supersonic, Boomburst

 **Personality** : Very mischievous, like its owner, Chatot often parrots things back to Dakota for her stories, like a microphone. Often insults other people, but it is unknown how much of what it parrots back is really coming from Chatot.

 **Pokemon/Nickname:** Braixen – Faux

 **Level** : 24

 **Gender** : Female

 **Ability:** Magician

 **Special Moves** : Thief, Hypnosis

 **Personality** : Very silent and moody, Braixen doesn't get along with any pokemon other than Dakota's. However, it does end up getting drawn in to things other pokemon are doing, only to deny having done so.

 **Pokemon/Nickname:** Manectric – Bolt

 **Level** : 32

 **Gender** : Male

 **Ability:** Lightning Rod

 **Special Moves** : Volt Switch

 **Personality** : Kind and loyal, if only to Dakota, Manectric is her main battling pokemon, and it is very competitive. Dakota's main form of transport, it is very protective of her, electrocuting anyone who comes near.

 **Pokemon/Nickname:** Swellow – Tsubame

 **Level** : 27

 **Gender** : Female

 **Ability:** Guts

 **Special Moves** : Roost, Pursuit, Fly

 **Personality** : Very competitive and aggressive, Swellow enjoys battling. Dakota's main source of pictures, it has an always active video camera around its neck to spy on others. Swellow is also very motherly to Dakota's other pokemon, and protective.

 **Pokemon/Nickname:** Gourgeist – Pumpernickel

 **Level** : 26

 **Gender** : Male

 **Ability:** Pickup

 **Special Moves** : Thief, Trick

 **Personality** : Gourgeist is very mischievous, often playing pranks on other pokemon. It enjoys scaring other pokemon, and will hide in dark corners to pop out and frighten other people.

 **Pokemon/Nickname:** Chinchou – Sparky

 **Level** : 14

 **Gender** : Male

 **Ability:** Volt Absorb

 **Special Moves** : Water Pulse

 **Personality** : Weaker than Dakota's other pokemon, Chinchou doesn't like fighting, and is very shy. It doesn't get along well with others, and is prone to crying. When it does, Dakota is the only one who can calm it down.

 **Friends** : Dakota doesn't get along with many people, but the kind of people that she would be friends with are the kind of people that don't mind a friend who's a little weird and kind of out of their mind. The kind of person who wouldn't say anything if they found her hiding out in a bush outside of someone's room with a camera.

 **Relationships** : While romance isn't really on Dakota's mind, the kind of people that she would be attracted to are the kind of people that would make for a good story; someone super strong or with a rare pokemon. However, this attraction is only that deep, and she generally doesn't get along well enough with people for a deeper relationship.

 **Other** : Wants to be the first one to get a photo of the pokemon Mew.

* * *

Sorry if the profiles are long, I really want this story to be complex.

Make sure you get those submissions in!


	2. Chapter 1

Awesome, thank you all for your character submissions, I hope to do all of your characters justice in my story! And for all the ones who I couldn't accept, I hope that I get the chance to use them in the future! Now then, these are the characters who made the cut!

Elizabeth – Phantom-Jester

Austin – IfTimeWasStill

Eric – My Wunderwaffle iz missin

Sango – Condor-K

Akira – EveChan170

Katherine – Regiinator

Gabrielle – xEverlastingDarknessx

Will – Basetezotar

Cynthia – Daozang

Oscar – Darkhammer

Nick – Wildlian

Serefina – Duskzilla

Nikita – Mightymareep98

Julianna – SilverMoon71442

Andre – TheStuffILike

Reiner – Seth98

Daryl – DeviouslyNormal

Lukas – BloodStarGeneral

Aidan – Eevee Madness

Jamie – Darkmoonrise312

Thanks for your characters, everyone!

Aeromenca: Yeah, well, that's all I can do.

xEverlastingDarknessx: Thanks for your character!

Dragon soul45: Sorry, but because your team is technically not allowed, I can't accept your character. However, don't worry, if you submit your character with a team that is allowable (i.e. adds up to the number total and doesn't have both an eeveelution and a Lucario) I'll use her late!

Basetezotar: Thanks for your character! However, I'm not sure if you noticed or not, but you submitted 7 pokemon instead of 6. Since trainers can only have 6 at the beginning, I'm dropping Ralts from your lineup (also because you have an eeveelution) but Will might catch one later, don't worry!

Daofang: Thanks for your character, I like Cynthia already. Considering how contrasting she is to the MC, she'll probably end up being a semi-major character!

Darkhammer: Thanks for your character!

Wildlian: Thanks, I hope to use your character as best I can!

Duskzilla: Thank you for choosing to make your character join the Caretaker Course! I was thinking I would have to make one myself, if no one would enter! (Also, are you interested in your character having a relationship or not?)

Mightymareep98: Thanks for your character, I'm glad someone joined the Research Course!

SilverMoon71442: Thanks for your character!

TheStuffILike: Thanks for your character, although there are quite a lot more than I expected in the Ranger Course.

Seth98: Don't worry, if I have anything to ask, I will.

DeviouslyNormal: Thanks for your character!

BloodStarGeneral: Cool, thanks! I'm glad more people are in the appeal course!

Eevee Madness: Thanks! Also, Aidan's problems with relationships hits a little too close to home with me… haha… *goes into a corner and cries*

Darkmoonrise312: Awesome, thanks for your character!

Tbroome535: Sorry, as much as I like your character, I can't use him, he was number 21, sorry.

Pichu: Sorry, again, but I'll be happy to put her in later once you've balanced her party a little more!

Sonofthetrigod: You know, I'm surprised. I thought I would publish at least one chapter before people started shipping their characters together, but I should learn to never underestimate the internet. If/When I put him in, if you want the two of them to be in a relationship, that's really not up to me, you'd have to talk it over with her creator.

Seje For Days: Sorry, all characters taken.

ShadeZyro: Sorry, all characters taken.

Rainbow: Sorry, all characters taken.

Michael97: Sorry, all characters taken.

BoomShaka0: Sorry, all characters taken.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1

* * *

Blake was feeling slightly uncomfortable. He was sitting in the middle of a large crowd of people, all wearing matching uniforms, in a large auditorium. For the boys, this uniform was a grey blazer over a white collared shirt and tan pants, with a red tie, and brown shoes. For girls, this uniform was a grey vest over a white collared shirt, and a red skirt, as well as knee length grey socks and brown shoes. This would be his first day at the Pokemon Academy, and he was a little nervous.

"Hey, is this seat taken?" Blake turned his head to see a girl wearing the standard uniform for girls. She had short red hair, brown eyes, and a big smile on her face.

"Um, not really," Blake said, the girl plopping down next to him.

"So, what's your name, then?" the girl asked, turning to him.

"…Blake," Blake said.

"Blake, huh…" the girl said, nodding. "Blake… Blake. Blake!"

She repeated his name a few times, and then turned to him again.

"I'm Cynthia," she said, smiling.

"…Okay," Blake said, smiling back a little.

"So, you're a freshman, huh?" Cynthia asked.

"…That's why I'm here," Blake said, nodding.

"Oh, right," Cynthia said, laughing.

The auditorium became silent when a man walked up to the front podium. He wore a suit and walked with a cane, and had white hair down to his shoulders. His skin was pale, like he was sick, and he had glaring red eyes.

"Greetings, students," the man said into the mike on the podium. "I am Headmaster Albreicht. For starters, I would like to congratulate each one of you on your entrance into this school. Attending the Pokemon Academy is the first step in graduating from just a normal Youngster or Lass or Bug Catcher, to a trainer with the capabilities of one day becoming a Gym Leader or a Pokemon Master, or even a future teacher at this institution."

He paused, and looked out over the students.

"Now, each of you have been assigned to one of the three Freshman dorms, and the luggage dropped off will be delivered there by the end of the day," the Headmaster declared. "In your homeroom class today, you will be given a pamphlet detailing your dorm, floor, and room number, as well as your mailbox number. You will each also receive keys for both of them."

Murmurs rose out around the crowd.

"Now, I can give you all a lot of inspirational speeches, but I'll only say this," the Headmaster declared. "You all are pokemon trainers. And that means one thing. You need to live like pokemon trainers. Look at the person sitting next to you, and divide into groups of two."

Blake looked at the redhead, Cynthia, who turned to face him.

"Now, the two people in each group will fight," the Headmaster declared, Cynthia and Blake reacting in surprise.

After that speech, the Headmaster turned and walked off the stage, leaving all the students in the auditorium shocked.

Another teacher walked up to the stage, a little nervous. Obviously, he wasn't expecting this to happen.

"Um, okay, this is the first time we've done this, but, um…" The teacher wore a grey collared shirt and black pants, and had short black hair and piercing black eyes. "Anyways, could each group line up in front of the stage please? We can, I guess, give you each a number for the battlefield you can use?"

"What a pain in the ass…" he sighed under his breath. "This is going to take all day, we don't have enough battlefields for all the people needing to fight."

"Professor, I don't have enough pokemon with me!" a blonde girl in the front row said. "The only pokemon I have with me is my Castform!"

"Well, I guess you have to rent some from the faculty, then!" the Professor sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Okay, listen, this isn't going to work. So just find a quiet place to battle, away from any buildings, and get a faculty member or a member of campus safety to oversee it, okay?"

"Blake, let's go!" Cynthia exclaimed, grabbing Blake by the wrist and dragging him out of the auditorium.

"Um, where are we going?" Blake asked.

"We're going to find a teacher, obviously!" Cynthia declared. "We've gotta get to battling as soon as we can! I'm all fired up, after all, I can't wait!"

Cynthia pounced on the first faculty member she saw; a young woman with pink hair tied into pigtails, wearing a witch robe and a black witch hat.

"Witch girl, are you a teacher?" Cynthia demanded.

"Which girl?" the woman asked, smiling innocently.

"Yeah, that's what I'm saying," Cynthia said, nodding. "You're not wearing a uniform… although… aren't you a little short for a faculty member?"

The woman seemed ticked off by this.

"Is this about the Headmaster's weird battle rule?" she asked, frowning.

"Yes," Cynthia said, nodding.

"Well, I am a Professor, but I can't just drop everything to watch…" the woman's eyes landed on Blake. She pushed past Cynthia and walked up to him, smiling.

"And who might you be?" the woman asked, smiling. "I'm Professor Lunark, but you can call me Lulu, young man…"

"Luna, get back to your job," a man declared, Blake, Cynthia, and the Professor turning in his direction. The man had messy brown hair and brown eyes, and wore a brown coat over a black button up shirt and brown pants. He wore hiking boots, and he had on a black hat like the ones worn by newspaper boys nearly a hundred years ago.

"Aurore, you never let me have any fun," Professor Lunark huffed.

"That's 'Professor' to you," the man said, frowning. "And I do believe that you're supposed to be mixing some new herbs for the campus nurse, isn't that right?"

"…Fine…" Professor Lunark sighed, walking away.

"Now then, I believe the two of you needed someone to watch your battle?" the Professor asked.

"Yeah," Cynthia said, nodding.

"Wait, you're Aurore Reinhart, correct?" Blake asked.

"Students generally call me 'Professor'," the man said, nodding all the same.

"Well, I'm in your 'Pokemon Myths and Legends' class this semester," Blake said. "So I'm glad I got to meet you."

"I see," Professor Reinhart said, nodding. "Anyways, this battle, it will be standard 3 on 3, understand?"

"Right on!" Cynthia said, throwing her hands up in excitement. "Blake, let's get this DONE!"

Cynthia tossed out a moeball, which a Ralts emerged from. The small human-looking pokemon ran over to her side, hugging her leg.

"A Ralts, huh?" Blake said, reaching for his pokeball.

"No, no, I'm not using her to battle," Cynthia said, patting the little pokemon on the head. "Rose here is just going to cheer me on, isn't that right, cutie?"

"Ralts!" the Ralts, Rose, nodded.

"Okay, then I'll start," Blake said, tossing out a pokeball. "Cory, come on out!"

Blake's Corphish emerged from his pokeball, snapping his pincers in excitement.

"A water type, huh?" Cynthia said, smiling. "Ruby, let's go!"

Cynthia tossed out a pokeball, which her Mawile emerged from. Its second mouth was facing Cory, opened wide and snapping.

"Corphish!" Cory cried, backing away. The Mawile's second mouth, opened wide in front of him, was really freaking him out.

"Excellent!" Cynthia cheered. "Ruby, use growl!"

"Maw!" Ruby said, releasing a growling noise from her fanged mouth, scaring Cory even more, to the point where he ran behind Blake's leg.

"Cory, you've gotta fight!" Blake said.

"Corphish!" Cory said, nodding. It ran out at Ruby, holding one pincer up.

"Cory, uses bubblebeam!" Blake ordered. Cory opened his pincer and fired a blast of bubbles at Ruby, knocking her back. Ruby landed on the ground, injured.

"Come on, Ruby, don't give up!" Cynthia shouted.

"Ralts, Ralts!" Rose shouted.

Ruby rose to her feet, teeth thrashing.

"Now, hit it with a faint attack!" Cynthia ordered. Ruby charged forwards and swung her mouth, knocking Cory off of his feet. Ruby's mouth opened wide, and bit down on Cory's pincer. She swung him around, slamming him into the ground.

"Yeah, keep it up, just like that!" Cynthia cheered.

"Cory, use crabhammer," Blake ordered. Cory's eyes widened, and energy began flowing into his pincer. As soon as he hit the ground, he gripped the inside of Ruby's mouth and pulled, flipping her into the air herself, before slamming her down roughly. He pulled his pincer out and brought it down full force into Ruby's stomach, knocking her out.

"Mawile is unable to battle," Professor Reinhart declared.

"Aw, phooey," Cynthia frowned. "Return, Ruby!"

Cynthia returned Ruby to her pokeball, and smiled.

"Okay, let's get fired up, Rose!" Cynthia cheered.

"Ralts!" Rose cheered, nodding.

"Tristan, let's do it!" Cynthia shouted, tossing out a pokeball, which a Breloom emerged from. The mushroom dinosaur glared at Cory, angered.

"Cory, use bubblebeam!" Blake ordered. Cory held his pincers up and fired a stream of bubbles at the Breloom.

"Tristan, counter that with a bullet seed!" Cynthia ordered. Tristan opened his mouth and a surge of glowing seeds shot out, trading with bubbles hit for hit.

"Now, use aqua jet!" Blake ordered.

"Cor!" Cory shouted, shooting straight at Tristan, his body covered in water.

"Mach punch!" Cynthia ordered. Tristan narrowed his eyes, charging at Cory, striking him head on with a powerful punch, sending Cory flying back.

"Cory!" Blake cried.

"Now, hit 'em with the bullet seed again!" Cynthia cheered.

"Bre!" Tristan cried, opening his mouth, firing another blast of seeds, hitting Cory head on, knocking him unconscious.

"Corphish is unable to battle," Professor Reinhart declared, Blake returning Cory to his pokeball.

"Okay, Weiss, go!" Blake shouted, tossing out a pokeball, which his Scizor emerged from.

"Tristan, hit him with a mach punch!" Cynthia ordered. Tristan charged forward, claws raised.

"Weiss, go with a bullet punch!" Blake ordered. Weiss shot forward, his pincer hitting Tristan's claw, the two attacks colliding full force. The two pokemon jumped backwards.

"Bullet seed!" Cynthia shouted. Tristan opened his mouth and fired a barrage of bullets at Weiss, who countered with a rapid fire of bullet punches.

"Weiss, use wing attack," Blake ordered. Weiss charged at Tristan, slamming his wing into Tristan's torso, knocking him into the air. Weiss flew into the sky as Tristan hit the ground.

"Come on, Tristan, get up!" Cynthia shouted, Rose crying in unison.

The Breloom rose to his feet, panting, glaring at the Scizor.

"Weiss, bullet punch," Blake ordered. Weiss disappeared, shooting towards Tristan at full speed.

Weiss hit Tristan in the side of the face, pushing him backwards.

"Tristan, use counter!" Cynthia ordered. Tristan's eyes narrowed. He swung his tail, hitting Weiss at full force in the stomach, sending him flying through the air.

Tristan crashed onto the ground, but rose to his feet with Cynthia's cheering.

Weiss landed on the ground, holding his stomach.

"Weiss, are you okay?" Blake asked.

"Sci," Weiss said, nodding.

"Great," Blake said. "Hit him with bullet punch again!"

Weiss disappeared, shooting towards Tristan with a flash of red.

"Tristan, counter his bullet punch with your mach punch!" Cynthia ordered. Tristan charged straight at Weiss, the two attacks colliding once again. However, instead of jumping back, both pokemon pressed the attack forwards.

Tristan's claw moved under Weiss' pincer, causing Weiss to strike Tristan in the face at the same time that Tristan hit Weiss in the stomach. However, Weiss' attack proved to be the stronger blow, sending Tristan flying through the air and crashing onto the ground, unconscious.

"Breloom is unable to battle," Professor Reinhart declared.

"Good job out there, Tristan!" Cynthia said, smiling. "You get a nice rest!"

Cynthia returned the Breloom to its pokeball.

"Okay then," Cynthia said, smiling. "James, come on out!"

Cynthia tossed out a pokeball, which her Loudred emerged from.

"Weiss, use bullet punch!" Blake ordered. Weiss charged forward, though much slower than before, and raised his fist.

"James, use pound!" Cynthia ordered. James pulled a meaty fist back and hit Weiss in the stomach, knocking him back.

"No way!" Blake cried. "How did Weiss lose in speed?"

"Simple," Cynthia said, grinning. "Take a closer look at him."

Blake glanced at Weiss, who was looking worn out. Furthermore, sparks of electricity seemed to be crackling around him.

"Paralyzed?" Blake asked, shocked. "How?"

"My Tristan's got a special surprise," Cynthia laughed. "His Ability, Effect Spore, causes any pokemon that hit him to have the chance of falling asleep, being poisoned, or being paralyzed. It seems your Scizor traded a few too many blows with him."

"Weiss, shake it off, okay?" Blake asked, Weiss nodding. "Use bullet punch again, but this time be ready for the counterattack!"

Weiss charged forwards, holding his pincer up.

"James, use uproar!" Cynthia ordered. James opened his mouth and released a shockwave of sonic energy from both his mouth and the speakers on his ears. Weiss fell to his knees, pressing his pincers against his ears in pain.

"Now, stomp!" Cynthia ordered. James held his foot up and thrust it down onto Weiss' back, pinning him to the ground.

"Come on, Weiss!" Blake shouted.

"It seems we have to up the amperage!" Cynthia said, grinning. "James, maximum volume!"

The noise increased even more, to the point where it began affecting everyone else, as well, Blake holding onto his ears in pain.

Weiss tried to hold on, pressing his pincers against his ears, but soon enough he crumpled onto the ground, unconscious.

"SCIZOR IS UNABLE TO BATTLE!" Professor Reinhart shouted out, holding his ears.

"Return," Blake said, the sound waves dying down. "Okay, Rogen, let's go!"

Blake tossed out a pokeball, which his Boldore emerged from.

"James, use another uproar attack!" Cynthia ordered. James opened his mouth and released a shockwave of sonic energy at Rogen.

"Rock tomb," Blake ordered. Rogen held his stone talons up, rocks shooting out of the ground and pounding around James.

Rogen barreled forward, holding his claws up.

"Rock slide!" Blake ordered, Rogen using power to lift stones into the air and drop them on James' head.

James jumped up, irritated, and fired a blast of sonic energy, knocking Rogen backwards, Rogen skidding across the ground. He jumped to his feet, excited, pressing his claws on the ground.

"Magnitude," Blake ordered, releasing a shockwave through the ground, knocking James off of his feet.

"Damn, that was a strong one," Cynthia said. "Don't give in, James! Fight, fight!"

"Ralts, Ralts!" Rose cheered.

James jumped to his feet, clapping his hands together.

"Rock blast!" Blake shouted. Rogen formed a rock between his claws, firing it at James.

"Uproar!" Cynthia ordered. James fired a blast of sonic energy, shattering the rock to pieces and pushing Rogen backwards.

"Rogen, use sandstorm," Blake ordered. Sand shot out from Rogen's body, creating a massive tornado of sand around the battlefield, distracting James. Rogen charged at him through the sand, holding his pincer up, striking James in the chest and knocking him backwards. Rogen used another rock tomb attack, the rocks erupting from the ground and burying James, knocking him unconscious.

"Loudred is unable to battle," Professor Reinhart declared. "Blake is the winner!"

"Return," Cynthia sighed, returning James to his pokeball. "Darn it, I can't believe I lost my first battle here! What's with that, huh?"

"Ralts…" Rose said, patting Cynthia on the leg.

"Oh, Rose, you're right, I can't get down now!" Cynthia said, kneeling down and hugging her Ralts. "I've got so many battles to look forward to!"

Cynthia stood up, and turned to Blake.

"That battle was fun!" she said, smiling a bright smile. "However, be careful… someday, we shall meet again, and when we do, be prepared… I will give you the fight of your life!"

"…Okay," Blake said, nodding.

"Now, to go find the on campus Pokemon Center!" Cynthia said, picking Rose off from the ground. "Let's go, Rose!"

Cynthia ran off, headed towards another building.

"I don't know if anyone has told you," Professor Reinhart said, walking over to Blake, "but you should go to your homeroom class; it's the same for everyone, 'Pokemon Battle Basics'."

"Yeah, I've got it," Blake said, nodding. "I know what building and room it's in, too."

"Good, then you can handle it," Professor Reinhart said, nodding. "I'll be waiting for tomorrow, when you'll take my class."

Professor Reinhart turned and walked away, leaving Blake standing there.

"Come on, Rogen, let's go," Blake said. Rogen charged and tackled Blake, knocking him over, rubbing against him affectionately.

"Yeah, yeah, return," Blake said, returning Rogen to his pokeball. Blake checked his watch and found out that his homeroom class would soon be starting. He stood up and reached into his bag, checking the campus map, heading towards Charizard Hall.

Blake walked into the classroom and sat down in one of the seats by the window, next to a red haired girl.

"So, we meet again," Blake said, smirking. "I'm ready for the fight of my life."

"Oh you can just shut right up," Cynthia said, turning away from him in embarrassment.

* * *

So, that was the first chapter. I considered adding in some more scenes with some more characters, but the chapter would be twice as long if I did, and this was the best place to cut it off. More to come!


	3. Chapter 2

So, here's a new chapter! I'm glad so many people commented on my last chapter!

Tbroome535: Oh, definitely.

Sonofthetrigod: Yeah, no problem.

Dragon soul45: Okay, she'll be the first OC of the next batch I'll use.

Pichu: You have enough points left you could keep the Milotic, or the Ninetales, just not a shiny.

Phantom-Jester: Thanks, I hope so!

Duskzilla: Okay, awesome, she already has a suitor, and she hasn't even been introduced yet!

Darkhammer: I will.

Scott: Thank you, you are certainly welcome to your opinion. This is why our facility makes sure that students are provided every opportunity to sign up for the countless field trips to different areas in order to learn more about how pokemon interact with the wild. Our campus itself is situated in an area somewhat isolated from other towns in order to allow the students time to explore the areas around them. By opening our gates to students of all different regions, it gives trainers the opportunity to interact with many different species of pokemon from across the world, an experience that they may not obtain through simple travel. Furthermore, we aspire for our students to foster a competitive spirit with their peers, challenging those around them to become the best that they can be. Such relationships are needed for a trainer to truly become the best, as both fierce rivalry and strong friendship will allow trainers to understand not only their pokemon, but each other. We do not wish for our academy to be the end of a trainer's journey, but the beginning. By educating the trainers who attend our fine school in all the different aspects of pokemon life, we hope that our students will take our lessons out into the world and find their own paths, becoming the very best they can be.

Regiinator: Yes, I admit this chapter is a little short, but that was simply the best place I found to end the chapter. If I didn't end it there, than most of this chapter would end up being added as well, and that might make it a little too long.

Seje For Days: Yeah, she might show up later, though!

DeviouslyNormal: There are a few more, 9 in total not including Blake.

xEverlastingDarknessx: Well, here's another update.

Rainbow: Thanks!

Darkmoonrise312: Really? Who do you ship? Also, lunatic is a completely accurate translation of Lunark.

BloodStarGeneral: Okay, thanks!

Moka4-u: …I'll consider it. PM me, we'll talk.

My Wunderwaffle iz missin: Thanks!

Daozang: Thanks, I really want to get the characters right.

Mightymareep98: I hope I can use her well.

IfTimeWasStill: It's hard to make battles without getting perspective from the fighters, or without them being able to talk.

Eevee Madness: Don't worry, I'm working out how to introduce each character when it feels right to introduce them.

ShadeZyro: Thanks!

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 2

* * *

"So, Blake, which dorm hall are you in?" Cynthia asked as she followed Blake across the grassy fields of the campus. Their homeroom had ended, and as Blake left, he had noticed the redhead following right after him.

"Um, why are you following me?" Blake asked, confused.

"We're buds, aren't we?" Cynthia asked, smiling.

"We are?" Blake asked.

"Oh, come on, don't be like that!" Cynthia huffed. "We had a super-fun pokemon battle, that makes us friends already, doesn't it?"

"I guess," Blake said, nodding.

"Right, see?" Cynthia said, nodding. "So come on, what house are you in? Tell me?"

"…Bulbasaur House," Blake said.

"Seriously?" Cynthia asked, ducking in front of him so they were face to face. "Me too! What floor are you?"

"3rd floor," Blake said.

"ME TOO!" Cynthia said, practically jumping into the air. "Awesome! Let's hope our rooms are next to each other, right?"

"Um, sure…" Blake said, shrugging.

"Definitely!" Cynthia said, nodding. "My room is 321, what's yours?"

"307," Blake said.

"Darn, that sounds pretty far away," Cynthia sighed. "Oh well, let's get going! To Bulbasaur House!"

Cynthia ran top speed towards the brick building that was their dorm, Blake following after her. When Blake arrived, she was pulling on the double doors roughly, but they weren't opening.

"What's the matter with these things?" Cynthia demanded. "They won't open!"

"You have to use your ID card, remember?" Blake said, walking over to the panel on the side of the door, sliding the card through the slot. The green light flashed to show the door was unlocked.

"Wow, you're right, I totally forgot," Cynthia said, laughing sheepishly. The two walked into the dorm, and headed up the stairs to the third floor, which was filled with suitcases and boxes of students moving in.

"Welp, this is me," Cynthia said, stopping in front of the door labeled 321. "I think yours is down the hall. See ya around, Blake!"

Cynthia slid her key into the knob and turned, heading into her room.

Blake headed down the hall until he stopped at the room labeled 307. He reached down to unlock the door, only to find it was already unlocked. Blake turned the knob and headed inside, noting that two people were already in the room.

"Oh, so you're the third, huh?" a boy waved to Blake; he was sitting on the normal bed, on the opposite side of the room as the bunk bed.

He was rather short, almost as short as Cynthia. He had black hair and blue eyes, and looked a little nervous.

"…Yeah," Blake said, nodding. "I'm Blake, Blake Harker."

"Well, um, I'm Nick Elwood, and that's Reiner," the boy, Nick, said, gesturing towards the other student, who turned to look at Blake from where he was hanging up a poster.

If Nick was short for 15, this guy was tall for it, even taller than Blake. He had tanned skin and green eyes, and a pale scar along the bridge of his nose. His hair was also black, but messier than Nick's.

"…" Reiner stared at Blake, and then returned to hanging up his posters, one with a Treecko on it and the other one a large map of the Hoenn Region.

"Reiner took the top bunk, so the only bed left is the bottom," Nick said. Blake nodded and dropped his bag on the bottom bunk, and then headed into the hall to take his suitcases and stuff in.

"So, how did your first battles go?" Blake asked.

"I lost mine," Nick sighed, shaking his head.

"I won," Reiner said, turning towards the two of them, grinning. "What about you?"

"I won," Blake said.

"Awesome," Reiner said, cracking a smile. "Let's have a battle, sound good?"

"Well, my pokemon are kind of exhausted, it's been a long day," Blake said. "Besides, I need to finish unpacking.

"Well, this room is pretty big, and there's a closet and drawers for each of us," Reiner said, gesturing towards the large wooden closets. "I already got the ones at the foot of the bed, so you've got the ones on the back wall."

Blake opened up his suitcase and began putting clothes away, when all of a sudden a knock came on the door.

"Who could that be?" Reiner asked, confused. He had been halfway up the ladder to his bed, but he jumped down and walked up to the door, opening it.

"Hello there!" A loud voice familiar to Blake rang out. "I'm looking for my buddy Blake, is he in here?"

"Hey, Blake, you've got company," Reiner said, moving back and opening the door for Cynthia to stroll in.

"Hello boys," Cynthia said, grinning. "Blake, how nice to see you again!"

Nick looked away, embarrassed.

"What are you doing here?" Blake asked, confused.

"Oh, you know, just came in to check on you," Cynthia said, grinning. She flopped down on his bed, stretching her arms and legs.

Cynthia sat up, looking at Reiner and Nick.

"So, who're you guys?" Cynthia asked. "I'm Cynthia."

"Reiner," Reiner said.

"…What about a last name?" Cynthia asked.

"Reiner Zollern," Reiner said, grinning.

"What kind of name is 'Zollern'?" Cynthia asked, laughing.

"What's your last name?" Reiner asked, frowning.

"Fafnir," Cynthia said.

"Fafnir isn't much better than Zollern," Reiner said, smirking. "Who named you that anyway?"

"Not important," Cynthia said, laughing. "So, what about the shy guy over there? What's your name?"

"…Nick… Elwood…" Nick said, looking away from Cynthia, who frowned.

"God, so boring," Cynthia sighed. "Blake, your roommates are pretty weird. Mine are much cooler."

"Are we?" everyone in the room turned to see a girl with short, messy blonde hair and brown eyes walk into the room. A Castform floated behind her.

Behind the blonde, a girl with tan skin and long dark hair stood in the hallway.

"These would be my roommates, Sango Akana and Julianna Keruz," Cynthia said, nodding to them.

"What's up, bitches?" Sango asked, grinning. "I'm Sango, this is my partner, Silver."

"…Julie," the other girl, Julie, said, waving at them.

"…More girls…" Nick said, looking at the ground.

"Yes, sir," Reiner said, walking up to Sango. "Nice to meet you all, I'm Reiner Zollern."

"You're Blake, right?" Sango asked, turning to Blake.

"That's right," Blake said, nodding.

"I heard from Cynthia that you're pretty good at battling," Sango said, smiling. "Of course, you'd have to be better than the guy I had to fight."

"Who was that?" Blake asked.

"Oh, just some guy," Sango said, shrugging. "I had to borrow some pokemon from the faculty, since Silver's the only pokemon I have."

"Really?" Reiner asked, surprised.

"Yup," Sango said, nodding. "I'm aiming to be a Pokemon Ranger. That's why I signed up for 'Pokemon Caretaking' for freshmen."

"Oh, hey, I'm in that class," Blake said.

"Really?" Sango asked, smiling. "Well, that should be interesting, then."

"So, why are you guys even here?" Reiner asked.

"Well, we came to get our roommate here for dinner," Sango said. "There's the freshman barbeque tonight. You guys want to come with?"

"Um, I'm not so sure," Nick said, frowning. "I'm not that hungry, so I think I'll just-"

"Don't be a spoilsport, virgin!" Cynthia said, grabbing Nick by the wrist and pulling him off of the bed. "Let's go get some food!"

The group of six headed out of the dorm hall, and out onto the large center field outside of the dining hall. Sango ran at the head, drawn in by the scent of cooked ribs, Silver following after her.

When they reached the field, a lot of students had already arrived, setting out colored blankets.

"Mm, food…" Sango drooled. She ran to the line and picket up one of the paper plates, Blake and Cynthia getting in line behind her.

"I'll go grab us a blanket," Reiner suggested, Nick and Julie getting in line behind Blake and Cynthia.

"Seriously, guys?" Reiner asked, as the group made their way to the blanket he had laid out. "You guys didn't get any food for me?"

"Not our job," Sango said, plopping down on the blanket, a pile of ribs stacked on her plate. Reiner sighed and got into line, the rest of the group sitting down.

"Here, Silver," Sango said, feeding some of the slices of meat to her Castform.

"So, if you're trying to be a Ranger, that means you don't keep your Castform in a pokeball, right?" Blake asked.

"Nope, I just let Silver do what she wants," Sango said, patting the pokemon on the head.

"I like having Rose out too," Cynthia said, Rose emerging from her pokeball. "Still, remember the school rules? Only pokemon of a certain size can be out of their pokeballs at all times."

"Why is that?" Julie asked.

"Well, the way I hear it, there was a trainer last semester who had a Lairon that was always out of his pokeball," Sango explained. "And when he was changing after gym class, his Lairon evolved into an Aggron, and the size change caused it to break down the wall between the boys and girls changing rooms."

"That's not true," Julie said, shaking her head.

"I swear, ask one of the sophomores!" Sango said, frowning.

"I believe it," Blake said, nodding.

"So, Nick," Cynthia said, turning to the boy who was trying very hard not to look at any of the girls there. "You're not talking that much, why's that?"

"Well, I just… I'm not good around girls…" Nick said, embarrassed.

"…Pff, why not?" Cynthia chortled.

"Um, I just, um…" Nick said, his face turning bright red.

Cynthia was obviously having a blast at getting Nick embarrassed, moving closer to him.

"Listen, Nick, I think the best way to get over embarrassment around girls is with a little skinship, don't you think?" She asked, wrapping an arm around his shoulder.

"Cynthia, you're bothering the poor boy," Julie said, putting her hand over Cynthia's mouth and pulling her off.

"Mmm," Cynthia said, Julie pulling her hand back.

"She licked me!" Julie said, frowning.

"…" Cynthia stuck her tongue out, grinning.

At this point, Blake decided it was the best time to disconnect with the rest of the world. He placed his headphones over his hears and closed his eyes, leaning back on the blanket, cutting off the sounds from the world around him.

For about 2 seconds. The headphones were ripped off of his ears by Cynthia, who leaned over him, frowning.

"Blake, you have GOT to be more social," Cynthia said, frowning.

"Oh, come on, lay off the guy," Reiner said, sitting on the blanket with his plate of food. "He's just trying to relax, take it easy, all that stuff."

"I disagree with that," Sango said, frowning. "People like you are my least favorites, you just sit around and do nothing when there's so much adventure to be had. Relaxation is so boring."

"Everyone needs to unwind sometimes," Reiner said, shrugging.

"That's why I ride my bike," Sango said, grinning. "Or run."

"Well, what if it's raining?" Reiner asked, frowning.

"Silver," Sango said, smirking, "is capable of changing the weather."

"Seriously?" Reiner asked, shocked.

"Yup," Sango said, nodding excitedly. "See, I always want to be DOING something, whether that's running, bike riding, mountain climbing, or the like. That's why I want to be a Pokemon Ranger; I'll be able to go anywhere, find tons of new adventures, and do a ton of awesome things, it's the best job EVER!"

"I totally get it!" Cynthia said, clasping Sango's hands in her own. "I've always wanted to live a life of excitement and adventure!"

"See?" Sango said, smiling brightly. "You're just like me!"

The two girls giggled, smiling. Then, Sango turned to Julie.

"So, Julie, do you have any pokemon that you like spending time with?" Sango asked, smiling. "Blake, what about you?"

"…This is Wolfie," Julie said, releasing a Poochyena from a pokeball. The Poochyena wagged her tail and nuzzled up against Julie in affection. "She's very special, I've been with her since I was a little girl."

"Oh, how cute!" Cynthia said, petting the dog pokemon.

"Blake, you're up," Sango said, smiling. "Show us what you've got."

"Well, this is Tara," Blake said, releasing his Snivy from her pokeball. "She was my first pokemon, too."

Tara looked at the trainers and turned her head away, frowning.

"Yeah, she can get kind of moody, too," Blake said, laughing.

"You have no idea about moody grass types," Reiner said, shaking his head. "I've got a Treecko that absolutely refuses to interact with any of my other pokemon."

"Tara, you want some food?" Cynthia asked, holding up a scrap of meat to the snake pokemon. Tara turned away, frowning, refusing the food.

"…" Cynthia frowned, and turned to Blake.

"She's not very friendly," Cynthia huffed.

"Tara, behave," Blake ordered. Tara looked at him, huffed, and begrudgingly ate the meat.

"See?" Cynthia asked, smiling. "It tastes good, doesn't it?"

"…Sni," Snivy said, blushing, shaking her head in denial.

"She likes it," Blake said, smiling.

"It's getting dark, huh?" Julie said, looking up at the dark sky, stars already visible beyond the encroaching leaves of the trees surrounding the fields. "The fireworks are going to start any second!"

"Fireworks?" Blake asked, shocked.

"Yup," Julie said, nodding. "Didn't you check the schedule? There's a fireworks display in celebration of all the freshmen being admitted today."

Julie opened her mouth to say something else, but a big flash of light and a "pop" of sound distracted all of them, the students turning their heads to see green lights in the shape of a Venusaur lighting up the sky.

The next firework that went off resembled a Charizard, and then a Blastoise.

"So beautiful…" Cynthia gasped, her eyes as bright as the fireworks going off overhead.

"Amazing!" Sango cheered, pumping her hands into the air in excitement. "What a performance!"

The kids watched the fireworks display, inspired by the sight before them, each student on that field resolving once more to carry through on the dreams they had joined the school to accomplish.

… _Soon…_ Blake thought to himself, placing his headphones over his ears. _I'll see you again…_

* * *

So, what do you think of this second chapter?


	4. Chapter 3

Here's chapter 3. It's a little bit slow, but it's character development, so what can you do?

Sonofthetrigod: Yup, definitely familiar to me.

Seje For Days: Indeed, I do know what will happen.

Darkmoonrise312: Ah, yes, I noted that, but I forgot (I have a hard time associating characters with authors because there are SO MANY) anyways, on the whole situation with Cynthia, as she is a major character, it would be interesting to see what would happen if she had a suitor; however, I'm not going to guarantee anything, it will depend on how the story goes. And it definitely won't happen for a while.

Darkhammer: I have an idea for him.

Duskzilla: Yes, some characters will, and yes, you can suggest. On the subject of dorms. There are a large amount of dorms on campus, there are three reserved for freshmen only (Charmander, Bulbasaur, Squirtle dorms) and those are assigned at random. There are also five dorms for sophomores and up, which students can choose from: Riolu House, Garchomp House, Crobat House, Arcanine House, and Swampert House. Then there are two additional dorms, one for trainers in the Caretaker Course (Chansey House) and one for trainers in the Ranger Course (Pichu House) which are mandatory for students in those courses to live in due to living restrictions (much more open space to accommodate raising pokemon outside of balls).

DeviouslyNormal: Pretty much hit the nail on the head for each of the characters, especially Cynthia. Part of the reason I made her a main character is because she acts as a foil to Blake in almost every way. It's unlikely she'll be in a relationship with him, however, even if she is his type, mainly because she probably sees him as a friend.

Daozang: Thanks. I love characters like Cynthia, they're so much fun to write!

Mightymareep98: Well, wait no more!

Dragon soul45: Excellent.

Pichu: Gentle giant, huh? I can work with that.

BloodStarGeneral: I have a good idea of how I can work with him.

My Wunderwaffle iz missin: Well, it shouldn't be that long, don't worry!

Phantom-Jester: Agreed.

Rainbow: Good, I was trying to get that effect.

Michael97: Yeah, but it'll be a while before I accept more, sorry.

Eevee Madness: Yeah, Sango and Cynthia are really similar, they're the kind of people that would get along instantly, causing me to feel bad for Julie (who doesn't like the fact that her roommates are loud) as well. Reiner is hard to get a bead on, but you'll get to understand him a little better as I explore him more.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 3

* * *

It was early in the morning when Blake headed out to classes the next day. He only had Pokemon Myths and Legends and Pokemon Caretaking today, so he felt like his schedule was pretty light. He checked the school map, and found that his first class, Pokemon Myths and Legends, would be in, predictably, the only hall named after a Legendary Pokemon, Victini Hall.

Blake walked down the paved sidewalk towards the center of campus, being careful of where he stepped due to the slight incline down the grassy hill the sidewalk was built into.

"Hey, Blake!" as he reached the bottom of the hill, Blake saw Reiner walk up to him in the direction from Snorlax Commons, the lunch hall, which was just down the river.

"Reiner, what's up?" Blake asked.

"You heading to a class?" Reiner asked as the two walked along the riverbank.

"Yeah, Pokemon Myths and Legends with Professor Reinhart," Blake said.

"Oh, seriously?" Reiner asked, his dull eyes lighting up. "Me too!"

"Really?" Blake asked, surprised.

"Yeah, I've always liked pokemon myths," Reiner said, kicking a pebble in their path into the river. "Especially ruins and the like."

"Really?" Blake said, surprised. "I wouldn't have expected it, looking at you."

"Well, yeah, I have a few reasons," Reiner said, nodding. "Why did you sign up?"

"…It's kind of a long story," Blake said, sighing. "See, my brother is friends with Professor Reinhart, and he wanted me to take one of his classes so the professor would be my class advisor."

"Yeah, I've got a pretty cool brother, too," Reiner said, nodding. "Honestly, he's the only one of my family I get along with…"

"Really?" Blake asked. "Why?"

"It's complicated."

"Ah, I see."

The two continued to talk about small stuff, before arriving at Victini Hall. While located close to the main courtyard, the building was rather small, only a single story red brick building with less than ten classrooms. Blake and Reiner headed in, finding their classroom, and entering.

The last to show up, Reiner and Blake had to sit in the front, on either side of a girl with dark skin, amber eyes, and long, black hair.

"Okay, class," Professor Reinhart walked into the room, clapping his hands together to call for attention. "As you know, I am Professor Reinhart, and this is 'Pokemon Myths and Legends'. If there's anyone here who isn't taking this class, please leave immediately."

He paused. No one left, so he continued.

"Now, would anyone like to pass out the syllabus?" Professor Reinhart asked.

"Yes, professor," the girl with amber eyes said, raising her hand.

"Excellent, thank you, um…" the professor checked his clipboard.

"Nikita," the girl said.

"Nikita, right," Professor Reinhart said, nodding. He placed the syllabus sheets on her desk, the girl getting up to pass them around.

"Now, as you might notice, the first thing mentioned on the syllabus is that under no circumstances are students allowed to have their pokemon outside of their pokeballs while in the classroom. The reason for this is because this room contains several valuable artifacts I use to teach other classes, and I don't want any accidents happening."

Blake looked around, noticing the bookshelf on the back wall, which held several glass cases too far away to see what was inside.

"Now, for starters, I want to explain to you my grading process," the professor said. "There will be several quizzes, as you can see, those are worth 15%. However, this class has no tests, instead, I will be requiring three essays from each of you by the end of the semester on a variety of topics."

There were some groans from some students, but Blake was personally glad; he was better at research and writing than at test taking.

"Also, for extra credit opportunities, this November I'll be taking part in verifying the authenticity of some recent discoveries made in the Sinnoh Region. Students in my classes can sign up to join, but it will be your responsibility to take care of the work for other classes. Anyone who attends the trip and does a good job with the work assigned, I will increase your final grade by a letter."

The class seemed to murmur at this, the professor continuing.

"The other option for extra credit will be on the final paper due at the end of the year. I expect an 8-10 page essay on a Legendary Pokemon of your choosing. Students may instead turn in 12 pages for an additional 5 points, with another .5 points for each additional page."

Not hearing any complaints, the professor finished speaking with this.

"Now, some of you might have heard that I am a harsh professor. That is true. For anyone who doesn't put in the work, this will quickly become the most dreaded room on campus. There's a reason that Crobat House burns an effigy of me during Pokepalooza every year. For the students willing to put in the time and effort that this class requires, you'll likely find this to be one of your favorite classes. Now, any questions?"

There were none. Blake heard a few gulps.

"Good," Professor Reinhart said, smiling. "Now, let's begin the lesson. Who can tell me one thing that makes a Legendary Pokemon 'Legendary'?"

Several people raised their hands, Reiner and Nikita included.

"You," Professor Reinhart said, pointing at Reiner.

"They have legends based around them," Reiner said.

Professor Reinhart rubbed his temples in frustration.

"Okay, yes, but what specifically is special about them that other pokemon species don't have?" He pointed to Nikita this time.

"Legendary Pokemon don't have genders," Nikita explained.

"Okay, good start," Professor Reinhart said, nodding. "However, not entirely true."

"What?" Nikita asked, surprised.

"There have been several reports that clarify that, yes, most Legendary Pokemon as far as we know are genderless," Professor Reinhart admitted, nodding. "However, there are also a few examples of Legendary Pokemon that have genders. The Legendary Pokemon Cresselia, for example, has been confirmed to be female. I don't even want to know how."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pokeball, tossing it out. A small blue and yellow pokemon emerged from it.

"This is a Golett, a non-Legendary Pokemon who has no gender," the professor explained. "So being genderless is neither a requirement of being a Legendary, nor exclusive to Legendaries."

Nikita blushed and lowered her hand, embarrassed.

"Anything else?" Professor Reinhart asked, looking around. No one else wanted to raise their hand, afraid of being completely shot down.

Blake hesitantly raised his hand.

"Yes, Blake?"

"Legendary Pokemon cannot evolve," Blake said. The professor smiled.

"Correct! Indeed, no Legendary Pokemon has ever been recorded as evolving. However…"

The professor walked over the black board and pulled out a piece of chalk. He wrote "EVOLUTION" on the board in big writing, and then beside it he wrote "FORMS".

"Can anyone tell me what a pokemon's form is?" the professor asked. Nikita raised her hand again.

"Yes, 'Legendary Pokemon don't have genders' girl?"

Nikita blushed, but didn't put her hand down.

"A form is the state a pokemon is in at any time. When a pokemon changes its form to a new form, that is called Evolution," Nikita explained. "However, if a pokemon can change its form into a new form and change back into its previous form, that is called Form Change. If a pokemon can be captured in several different colors or appearances, those are Form Differences of that pokemon."

"Correct," the professor said, smiling. "Can you think of any examples?"

"Um, well, I'm from Johto, and we have a pokemon there called Unown," Nikita said.

"Good, good, Unown is an excellent example of a pokemon having a multitude of different forms," Professor Reinhart agreed. "Can anyone think of any pokemon that can change their forms?"

"…Castform?" Reiner asked, Blake remembering Sango's Castform.

"Yes, Castform is a pokemon capable of changing its form depending on the weather. What about Legendary Pokemon?"

No one in the class could think of any.

"Well, let's start there," the professor said, turning back to the board.

After class let out, Blake and Reiner headed towards the Snorlax Commons; it was almost time for lunch.

"Hey, guys, what's up?" Blake and Reiner turned to see Cynthia jump up next to them, a bright smile on her face.

"Hey, Red," Reiner said, waving, Blake nodding to her.

"You guys just get out of a class?" Cynthia asked.

"Yeah," Blake said, nodding.

"Me too, I just came from my Pokemon Exercise class," Cynthia said, laughing. "All my guys got super pumped, and I worked up an appetite!"

Blake noticed that she wasn't wearing her uniform, instead wearing P.E. clothes of a white shirt and short grey shorts. REALLY short grey shorts.

Cynthia, naturally, noticed Blake's inadvertent gaze, and smirked.

"Pervert," she teased.

"I… no, I…" Blake said, shaking his head frantically. "It's not like that, I swear!"

"Oh, come on, I consider it to be rather flattering," Cynthia purred. "Reiner, what do you think?"

"…" Reiner mused for a while, and gave her a thumbs up. "Nothing better than a short girl in shorts."

"…" Cynthia frowned at him. "I don't mind people ogling me like Blake-"

"I wasn't!" Blake cried.

"But don't call me short!" Cynthia huffed.

"…Okay…" Reiner said, nodding.

"Great!" Cynthia said, her face brightening. "So, let's get some food!"

Cynthia grabbed Blake and Reiner by the wrists and pulled them towards the cafeteria.

After getting their food, Cynthia pulled out her ID card and handed it to the person located next to the exit, who slid it through a computer and handed it back to her.

"What was that?" Blake asked.

"Pokepoints," Cynthia said, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Pokepoints?" Blake asked.

"Didn't you check your pamphlet?" Reiner asked.

"Or get breakfast this morning?" Cynthia asked.

"No…" Blake said, shaking his head.

"Well, think of it like this," Cynthia said. "All students in this school get 1000 Pokepoints each semester, that we can use on items, food, and other stuff, and it's stored on the card. Of course, by participating in school events like tournaments and contests, we can earn more Pokepoints depending on how good we do."

"Plus, you can bet Pokepoints in battles with other trainers, and the winner gets the pot," Reiner said, rubbing his hands together eagerly. "I can't wait!"

"I, personally, like battling because it's fun," Cynthia said, smiling, "not because I want to win money."

Reiner and Blake both gave their ID cards to the employee, who slid the cards through the scanner, and handed them back to the two students.

"So, want to eat outside, guys?" Cynthia asked, turning towards the exit of the building. There were a large amount of tables and chairs inside, but out on the patio there were even more. The bulding was on a hill, overlooking a large lake and a field of grass on the edge of campus, where wild pokemon could be seen.

"Sure," Reiner said, nodding. The three of them found a table and sat down, setting their trays in front of them.

"Blake you don't have the healthiest food," Cynthia said, glancing at the pizza on his plate.

"…I like pizza," Blake said, frowning.

"All that stuff is going to kill you, you should eat healthy," Cynthia said, gesturing to her food, which, at least, was well balanced. "Same with you, Reiner."

"Hey, I like sweets," Reiner snapped, Cynthia holding her hands up defensively.

"Geez, sorry," she sighed. "Anyways, if you guys want some real food, I could cook something up later."

"You can cook?" Blake asked, surprised.

"I'm an awesome cook," Cynthia said, nodding. "What do you think, Reiner? Want to try some real food?"

"Well, I guess I could," Reiner said, shrugging. "I mean, if I wasn't willing to try, that would be very short-sighted of me, wouldn't it?"

"…Really?" Cynthia frowned.

"Sorry, I forgot you're short tempered," Reiner smirked.

"…" Cynthia smirked back at him, shaking her head.

"Hey, is that Sango?" Blake asked, looking out over the patio fence, down at the pathway leading up to the cafeteria. She was wearing the same clothes as Cynthia was, but she was jogging so she was covered in sweat, her hair matted to her neck.

"Nice," Blake said, staring down.

"Nice," Cynthia echoed.

"Hey, Sango!" Blake called down. Sango looked around, raising her head and noticing them, waving.

Blake and Cynthia waved back.

"Hey, Sango, you shouldn't go jogging in a white shirt and black bra," Reiner called down to her. Sango looked down and crossed her hands over her shirt, shooting Reiner a dirty look. Reiner waved.

"Spoilsport…" Cynthia and Blake said simultaneously, glaring at Reiner.

"Thanks!" Sango said, pulling herself up over the fence, Silver floating up after her, her bag hanging from its body.

"How-?" Cynthia sputtered.

"That was a ten foot jump!" Blake said.

"Yeah, but it's a rock wall, climbing something like that is easy," Sango said, plopping down between Blake and Reiner. She pulled a towel from her bag and wiped her hair down, her naturally unruly hair sticking out even more.

"I'm starving," Sango said, reaching for Blake's pizza. Blake slapped her hand away, Sango glaring at him.

"…Give me the pizza," Sango said, frowning.

"I'm starving, so no," Blake replied.

"10 seconds," Sango stated.

"Then what?" Blake asked.

"I'll pay you," Sango said.

"Then go get your own food," Blake said, frowning. "Don't eat mine."

"I'm hungry NOW."

"So am I."

"I'll make out with you if you give me that pizza."

Cynthia and Reiner coughed into their food, surprised.

"How is that a reward?" Blake asked, smirking.

Sango narrowed her eyes at him, and turned to Reiner.

"What about you?"

"Oh, I am SO not getting involved in this," Reiner said, pulling his tray away from Sango's greedy hands.

"I'll do it," Cynthia said, smiling, Sango turning to her in surprise.

"…Yes please," Blake said, Reiner nodding in agreement. Sango elbowed him in the stomach.

"Sorry, even if I'm willing to kiss someone like Blake or Reiner, you're kind of…" Sango said, shaking her head. She stood up, sighing, and walked inside. A few minutes later she returned with almost an entire pizza on her tray.

"Apparently, that food isn't healthy for you," Blake said, Sango sticking her tongue out at him.

"So, Blake, Reiner, what class did you have today?" Cynthia asked.

"'Pokemon Myths and Legends' with Professor Reinhart," Blake said.

"Oh, you have a class with Professor Reinhart?" Sango asked. "Jealous…"

"Yes," Blake said, nodding. "Why are you jealous?"

"Well, I mean, the Professor is a legend!" Sango said, smiling. "I heard he works with my dad sometimes. He gets to go on all sorts of cool adventures and excavations."

"Yeah, we heard about that," Reiner said, nodding. "He's going to some excavation or something in the Sinnoh Region this November, and he's inviting students to go."

"Do the students have to be in his class?" Sango asked, excited. "I want to go!"

"Why?" Reiner asked, confused. "It's just a big pain in the ass."

Sango glared at him.

"Stop being so lazy, Reiner! It's an amazing opportunity!" Sango exclaimed, fired up to the extreme.

"Yeah, yeah," Reiner said, nodding. "Whatever."

"Okay!" Sango said, backing up, Blake noticing her tray was already empty. "To find Professor Reinhart, and see if I can join his expedition!"

Sango charged forwards, jumping over the fence, landing on the ground ten feet below.

"That girl is always moving," Blake said, shaking his head.

"Even you're not as hyper as her," Reiner told Cynthia.

"Hey, I prefer to think of it as 'energetic'," Cynthia said, laughing.

* * *

So, that's where I'll end this chapter. I know it's a little slow, but don't worry, it'll start picking up soon! Next chapter, we'll introduce a load of new characters, I just wanted to develop some of the others this time!


	5. Chapter 4

Here's another chapter. Also, I know that it's a little late, but could I get the birthdays for everyone's OCs? I'm going to go include that in the profile.

Mightymareep98: Thanks, that's what I wanted!

Tbroome535: Not sure just yet.

Darkhammer: Thank you, enjoyment was kind of what I was going for.

Duskzilla: Me too, it's been years since I've tried my hand at a submit your own OC story.

Darkmoonrise312: Well, the difference is, Blake's was correct (Legendary Pokemon can't evolve) while Nikita's was not (Legendary Pokemon are genderless) but still, I get your point. And yes, that was definitely flirting, but harmless flirting, between friends. And there's a difference between staring at someone whose bra is showing and kissing that person, kissing is much more intimate. Plus, Blake really needed to eat the pizza. Also, of the characters I've used, Cynthia is probably my favorite so far, then Sango, because they're very easy to write. That's probably why they're fan-favorites.

Phantom-Jester: Nah, Sango isn't that violent. Probably.

Daozang: Well, it won't be for a while yet, though.

IfTimeWasStill: Maybe not as much, as this class is important, but I definitely won't just glaze over the other classes. However, only the ones Blake is in will get a lot of focus, since he's MC.

Sonofthetrigod: Yes, I hope so as well.

Dragon soul45: Thanks!

BloodStarGeneral: There are a ton of holidays and events on campus, and a lot where you get classes off. If you want more details on them, PM me:

 **September 10:** Club Day (No classes)

 **September 27-30** : Fall Festival Tournament (No classes)

 **October 31:** Pokemon Festival (No classes)

 **November 9:** Fishing Contest

 **November 30:** Cooking Contest

 **December 21:** End of Semester/Winter Festival/Winter Dance (No classes)

 **January 13:** Semester Party (No classes)

 **February 14:** Luvdisc Fishing Day/Star Dance

 **March 24:** Spring Festival (No classes)

 **April 1:** Sableye Day

 **April 8:** Caretaker Contest

 **Final Saturday of April:** Pokepalooza (No classes)

 **May 19:** Flower Festival/End of Semester

Eevee Madness: Well, if you've read any of my other stories, you should know just how smart Reinhart really is. (As for contests, I will get to one soon, don't worry)

My Wunderwaffle iz missin: It's a good story, I assure you.

Seje For Days: I know, I figured.

Pichu: What's happening?

DeviouslyNormal: Don't worry, we'll get to battles soon.

ShadeZyro: Thanks! I was going for that!

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 4

* * *

Blake found his next class, Pokemon Caretaking, after walking across campus to Kangaskhan Hall, located next to Chansey House. The building was quite large, and right on the edge of campus, nearly swallowed by the forest around it.

As he walked through the halls of the building, he found the room he was looking for, luckily located on the first floor.

Blake entered, looking around the classroom. He spotted a familiar face, Sango waving at him frantically and gesturing to an empty seat in front of her.

"So how did your talk with the Professor go?" Blake asked, sitting in front of her.

"Bah, the guy wasn't in his office," Sango sighed. "Still, I bet he'll let me go, he has to! I'm the daughter of a great adventurer after all!"

"Is that so?" Blake asked, turning to face the front of the classroom.

The door opened, and a young woman walked in. She had dark blue hair tied up in a ponytail and brown eyes, wearing a slightly unprofessional outfit of a white shirt and blue overalls.

"Hello, class," the woman said, smiling. "I'm Professor Leanne Reese, but you all can call me Leanne.

Leanne's smile was warm, comforting, and supportive, causing the entire class to be relaxed.

"Now then, for our first lesson, I think it would be most effective if we had class outside, in the garden," Leanne said. "Please, everyone, grab your things."

Leanne opened the back door to the room, the class filing out after her.

"Hey, guys," Sango and Blake turned to see Julia standing behind them.

"Oh, hey, are you in this class too?" Sango asked, her face brightening. Julia nodded.

"Awesome! This class is going to be so much fun!"

The group finished walking through the small pathway into the forest, arriving at a large space that had been fenced in. There was a large hilly field covering most of it, as well as a small pond with a river flowing through it that no doubt connected to Marill Stream further down the campus. There were fenced in gardens of several kinds of flowers, and berry trees were growing from patches of loamy soil all over the field. The fence went into the forest closing in on both sides of the field, telling Blake that there was a much larger area covered than what was being seen.

"Whoa, it's like a fairy tale!" Sango said, excited.

"Okay, class, welcome to Floette Fields!" Leanne said, smiling, opening the gate and gesturing for the students to enter. "This is the largest of the daycare facilities on campus, where we let trainers' pokemon interact with the wild pokemon native to this area."

"It's pretty cool," Julia said, looking out over the field. Tall grass was rustling all around them, signs of pokemon.

"Come on then, class!" Leanne said, clapping her hands together. She led the group deeper into the field, until they were next to the river. A girl was kneeling in front of the river, feeding several Goldeen from a bucket of Pokemon Food. She had black hair that fell to her shoulders, covered with an orange beanie, and green fingerless gloves. Instead of wearing the school uniform, she was wearing a blue and red shirt and black jeans, with a red apron.

"Everyone, this is my teaching assistant, Serefina Kagefusa, a fellow student of yours," Leanne said, Serefina standing up and turning to face the class. Blake took note of her surprisingly tall height, and certain… curved features of her body.

"Hello," Serefina said, waving at them, her green eyes flashing. "I'm Serefina, and I'm a sophomore."

"Even though she's just a sophomore, Serefina here has logged over twice the necessary number of hours to join the caretaker course in her freshman year alone," Leanne said, smiling. "There are a few other students helping out here as well, but Serefina here is my best."

"I'm not that good," Serefina blushed.

"Now then, it's time I explain to you something important about this class," Leanne said, her expression turning serious. "This is a two-semester class, and by the end of each semester, you must log in 15 hours of time taking care of the pokemon living out on this field. There will be sign-up sheets for dates and times in increments of one hour on the back wall of the classroom, and there is a limit of five students per increment of time."

One of the students raised his hand, asking why she was requiring something like that.

"Well, in this class, we don't have any book work or written tests, so the only way to properly study and judge your skills at caretaking is hands-on experience," Leanne explained. "And even if it's only an hour a week, by taking care of pokemon both belonging to trainers and out in the wild, I hope that you all will come to understand the purpose of this class, and pokemon caretaking in general."

Leanne turned to Serefina.

"Go get them, please." Serefina nodded, turning and heading deeper out into the field.

Leanne turned back to the class.

"Now then, for today, I thought I would take it easy for you, since it's your first day. I've left a syllabus on each of your desks, to go over later. But for now, this will be your first assignment."

Leanne whistled, Serefina running over to them, a pack of Poochyena following after her.

"These Poochyena live on the grounds, and belong to the faculty," Leanne said. "They've been raised around humans so they aren't dangerous, but because they live out in the wild, they do get to be a little rough and dirty."

Serefina walked up to the students holding a bucket filled with brushes, giving a hair brush to each student.

"Each of you will get a Poochyena to take care of," Leanne explained. "For the rest of the hour and a half of class time, I want you all to brush your Poochyena's hair to the best of your ability. When you're done, you may use the remainder of your class time as free time to spend with your pokemon and the pokemon here."

Julia raised her hand, Leanne turning to her.

"If we have our own Poochyena, can we use them for this exercise?" Julia asked.

"No, sorry, the purpose of this exercise is to teach you all how to take care of pokemon you've just now met," Leanne explained. "Because the pokemon you will most need to take care of will usually be pokemon you've just caught. It shouldn't be as difficult to take care of a Poochyena you've had with you and you've been maintaining yourself, right?"

"I guess," Julia said, nodding.

"Well, don't let me keep you," Leanne said, smiling. "Each of you can pick out your own Poochyena now. And if you have any questions, go ahead and ask me or Serefina."

Blake looked down at the small pack of Poochyena, who were all patiently sitting and staring back at the trainers. He noticed one with three black spots of varying sizes right above its front left leg, and knelt down to pick it up.

The Poochyena looked at him and licked his nose, Blake laughing.

"Cut it out, girl," Blake said, pulling her abck.

"That's a boy," Julia said.

"How can you tell?" Blake asked, turning to her.

"I can tell," Julia said. "Trust me." She knelt down and lifted up her own puppy, cradling it in her arms like a baby.

Once Sango had picked out her Poochyena, the three walked over to one of the smaller hills by the riverside, sitting down on the grass. After a few minutes of brushing, Sango noticed something.

"Look at her," Sango said, pointing at a young girl a few feet who was sitting by herself under the shade of a tree, gently brushing the fur of her own Poochyena.

The girl was small and delicate, like a doll. Her skin was a pale white like porcelain, and looked like it might break if it was touched. She had bright red eyes and long, smooth looking white hair that was flared out behind her on the ground.

Sango was already in motion, Silver on her heels. Blake and Julia followed after her.

"Wow, you have amazing technique," Sango said, sitting down next to the girl.

"…Thanks…" the girl said, turning to her slightly, frowning.

"I'm Sango, this is Julia, and that's Blake," Sango said, smiling. "What's your name?"

"I'm Kitty Kuroso…" the girl said, not taking her eyes off of the Poochyena.

"You really are good," Julia said.

"…Thanks," Kitty said, smiling. "I… I've been taking care of pokemon as long as I can remember."

The four brushed the fur of their Poochyena in silence, Serefina coming over to see how they were doing.

"So, how are you all doing?" Serefina asked.

"Almost done," Kitty said, smiling.

"Wow, your Poochyena looks like she's ready for contests!" Serefina said, kneeling down to pet him. She turned to Blake, her eyes widening.

"Your Poochyena…" Serefina gasped.

"Yeah?" Blake asked.

"He's beautiful," Serefina said, sitting next to him. The fur on the Poochyena, which had once been a tangled mess, was now straight and soft, like velvet, and seemed to almost shine. She ran her hand over the side of the Poochyena, smiling.

"It is amazing!" Julia said, surprised.

"You've done this before too," Kitty said, surprised.

"No, not really," Blake said, shaking his head. "None of my pokemon have fur."

"No, you have," Serefina said, nodding. "I can tell, you're really skilled!"

"Are you sure you haven't done this before?" Julia asked.

"Well, I mean, not with pokemon," Blake said, shaking his head. "But I used to brush hair all the time back when I was young."

Desperate to change the subject, Blake turned to Sango.

"How are you doing, Sango?" Blake asked.

"Well…" Sango said, looking down at the pokemon in her lap.

"…You might need to practice some more…" Serefina said, staring at the mess of hair Sango was dealing with.

"It's a 'rugged' look," Sango said, frowning. "I don't see what the point of making pokemon look good is, anyway."

"…We can tell," Julia said, noting her messy hairstyle.

"Sango, is it?" Serefina asked, Sango nodding.

"Listen, when you take care of a pokemon, you aren't just raising it to be strong, you have to focus on its looks. When pokemon are well groomed and well taken care of, they become happier and bond with their trainers better. And when pokemon have a stronger bond with their trainers, they become stronger than pokemon who don't, do you understand? It's in the interests of the trainer and the pokemon for the trainer to maintain the good appearance of their pokemon."

"…I understand," Sango said, nodding. "But I'm just not good at it…"

"Well, let me show you," Serefina said, placing her hand over Sango's hand, using her hand to gently brush the Poochyena's fur.

"Thanks…" Sango said, smiling.

Suddenly, several flashes of light came from one of the bushes.

"Huh?" Blake cried, turning to the bushes.

"Ah-hah!" a girl jumped out of the bush, smiling. She had messy red hair and bright brown eyes, and in her hands was an expensive looking camera. "Exposed! The secret love affair between Serefina Kagefusa and a freshman student!"

"Dakota!" Serefina cried, frowning. "What are you doing?"

"I've got the perfect scoop," Dakota said, smirking, taking a few more pictures. "This is going right on the front page, just you watch!"

"Um, who are you?" Blake asked, frowning.

"My name is Dakota Evans, master reporter!" Dakota said, wiping her hair from her eyes. "My motto is '50 feet or more? My camera lens can take pictures farther than that!' Nice to meet you!"

"…Is she for real?" Blake asked, turning to Serefina, who nodded.

"This is my roommate, Dakota," Serefina said, shaking her head. "She's been following me for a while…"

"When someone is as pretty as she is, scandals aren't far away," Dakota said, smirking. "As a member of the newspaper club, it's my responsibility to take capture the scandal for everyone!"

"You're in the newspaper?" Sango asked, surprised.

"Of course!" Dakota said, smiling smugly. "I've written many amazing stories for them, it just goes to show how talented I am!"

"She's a hack."

Everyone turned to see another student walk up. He had dull brown eyes and messy brown hair, and his blazer was unbuttoned, a curved pendant hanging from his neck.

"Who's a hack?" Dakota seethed.

"You are," the boy said, frowning. "Half your 'scandals' aren't even that interesting, and the other half are incredibly exaggerated. You're just a stalker."

"…Akira…" Dakota hissed, lunging at him, Serefina holding her back.

"Nice to meet you…" the boy, Akira, turned to Blake and waved at him.

"Akira, what are you doing here?" Dakota, slightly calmer, demanded.

"What are YOU doing here?" Akira asked.

"Investigative journalism!" Dakota declared.

"So, stalking then?" Akira asked. He took her silence as an affirmative response. "I see. I, on the other hand, am here for volunteer service. SO, it seems that I belong here, while you do not, would that be accurate?"

"…" Dakota leered at him, frowning.

"Hey, Blake," Sango said, grabbing his wrist.

"Yeah?" Blake asked.

"Doesn't she seem familiar?"

"Let's see… thin… red hair… no sense of personal space… hyper…"

Sango took out her phone, and called Cynthia.

"Hey, Cynthia, it's me," Sango said. "Do you have class right now?"

"…No? So do you mind coming over to the Floette Fields?"

"…Why not? What are you doing?"

Sango paused, her face turning bright red.

"You do realize my bed is UNDER YOURS, right?" Sango exclaimed, embarrassed.

Blake grabbed the phone from Sango.

"Cynthia, it's Blake," Blake commented. "There's a really hot chick here with a great figure."

A minute later, Cynthia appeared in front of them, panting, her clothes slightly disheveled and her face flushed a bright red.

"Blake… I came… as soon… as you told me…" Cynthia panted. She looked up at Blake. "Then I ran here as fast as I could…"

"…" Blake rolled his eyes.

"See what I did there?" Cynthia asked, grinning.

"Yes," Blake said, nodding.

"See, I said came like arrived."

"I know," Blake said, nodding again.

"But I really meant it like-"

"Oh, I got it," Blake said, nodding.

"So, where is she?" Cynthia asked, looking around eagerly.

"See that girl?" Blake asked, pointing at Dakota.

"…" Cynthia turned to Blake, rolling her eyes.

"Blake, we need to discuss the terms 'really hot chick' and 'great figure'."

"She wasn't who I was talking about," Blake said, pointing at Serefina.

Cynthia turned and looked at Serefina, scanning her up and down.

"…Nice…" Cynthia said, blood spurting out of her nose. She walked up to Serefina.

"Um, do you need help?" Serefina asked, worried.

"Can I touch your-"

Blake clamped his hand over Cynthia's mouth, muffling what she was saying.

"Hey, she licked me!" Blake exclaimed, pulling his hand away from Cynthia. He glanced at it. "Gross, your nose blood is on my hand!"

"So amazing…" Cynthia said, wiping her nose. "It almost brings me to tears…

"She's not that great," Dakota said, frowning. "Those boobs are completely pointless." Serefina blushed, holding her arms over her chest.

"Lies…" Cynthia said, pinching her nose.

"It's super annoying," Dakota said, shaking her head. "Plus, she's always walking around our room topless, or in her underwear."

A torrent of blood surged from Cynthia's nose, as she fell to the ground.

"Cynthia!" Blake cried, holding her up.

"Blake…" Cynthia said weakly, staring into his eyes. "I… I've seen paradise… the light… it's amazing… those breasts…"

"Don't die, Cynthia!" Blake cried. "There's so much you have left to see!"

"More… boobs…?" Cynthia asked.

"Definitely," Blake said, nodding.

"Okay, did you guys rehearse this or something?" Sango asked, frowning.

Blake and Serefina helped Cynthia to her feet, Serefina handing her a rag to wipe her nose.

"Thanks," Cynthia said, smiling.

Cynthia turned to Blake.

"Blake, you understand, don't you?" Cynthia asked, placing her hand on his shoulder. "How beautiful this woman is… due to her amazing rack… Truly, you are my brother in arms, are you not?"

Serefina blushed, both irritated and flattered at the same time.

"…Personally I prefer asses," Blake said, frowning.

"…" Cynthia looked at him like he was crazy. She turned and walked over to Sango, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Looks like there's still hope for you," Cynthia said, smiling.

*CRACK*

Cynthia rolled on the ground, holding her nose, Sango wiping her fist.

"I think you broke my nose!" Cynthia fake-cried. "It's bleeding!"

"Your nose has been bleeding all day!" Sango said, frowning. "Why did we even call you here?"

"Blake…" Akira said, placing his hand on Blake's shoulder. He smiled proudly, and gave him a thumbs up.

"Don't act like we're comrades," Blake said, frowning.

* * *

Don't be like that, Blake.


	6. Chapter 5

Hello, sorry this took so long to get out, I was working on other things.

Daozang: Thanks, I was going for laughter.

Basetezotar: Okay.

Darkhammer: Thanks! What's Oscar's birthday?

Guest: Thanks! Um… who's your character?

Sonofthetrigod: Cynthia is in to boys and girl?

Dragon soul45: Thanks!

Duskzilla: I believe that Serefina's plots will have a very big impact on the story.

Seje For Days: Yes, that is exactly how Cynthia and Dakota are.

Phantom-Jester: Yes, it definitely is.

TheStuffIlike: Well, we'll see.

DeviouslyNormal: Well, actually, Cynthia is bi. The others are spot on.

Darkmoonrise312: Well, Cynthia and Dakota are a lot alike.

My Wunderwaffle iz missin: Well, we'll see.

Eevee Madness: I hope they'll both grow on you.

BloodStarGeneral: Don't worry, Lukas will show up soon.

ShaydeZyro: I hoped for entertaining.

Pichu: The beginning is a nice place to start.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 5

* * *

"Seriously, how can you not appreciate the awesomeness of Serefina's breasts?" Cynthia demanded.

"I am not having this argument with you," Blake said, frowning.

"Can we not talk about me like that?" Serefina asked, embarrassed.

"Cynthia, you do realize that breasts aren't the only thing that matters, right?" Akira asked.

"Hey, what happened to Kitty and Julia?" Sango asked, looking around. The two girls had disappeared.

* * *

"Thanks for coming with me…" Kitty said, looking down. The two girls were walking through the forest, just wandering aimlessly. "I don't… do good with large groups…"

"Yeah, same with me," Julia said, nodding. "I can do fine with a few good friends, but so many people… it can be kind of unnerving."

Kitty and Julia laughed softly.

"I love your hair," Julia said, smiling. "That white color is amazing, it's like silk."

Julia reached her hand up, running it through Kitty's silky smooth hair, Kitty blushing slightly.

"Mine is kind of messy, and it isn't even one color," Julia explained, gesturing to her hair, which was lightened at the tips.

"What kind of pokemon do you have…?" Kitty asked.

"I like dark and fire types," Julia said, smiling. "My favorite's Wolfie."

Julia released her Poochyena from its pokeball.

"Amazing," Kitty said, kneeling down next to Wolfie. "You've taken good care of her."

"I've also got Blaze and Nuri, too," Julia said, releasing a Growlithe and a Vulpix. Kitty's eyes brightened, and she gestured for the pokemon to come closer.

The Growlithe licked her outstretched hand and the Vulpix curled up next to her, purring.

"They really seem to like you," Julia said, smiling. "I've got a few more, but…"

"No, this is fine," Kitty said, smiling. "See, I've always got along well with feline and canine type pokemon, just like your Growlithe and Poochyena, and even Vulpix."

Kitty held up a pokeball, and released a Persian from it. The Persian stretched, purring, and laid down on the ground. She also released a Growlithe, just like Julia.

"This is Meomo, my Persian, and Larosa, my Growlithe," Kitty said, looking up at Julia. Her shyness seemed to be gone, her pale face bright with excitement.

"Amazing…" Julia and Kitty whipped their heads around to see a man walk up to them, mumbling something or another.

* * *

"Okay, fine, I admit that breasts aren't the ONLY thing that matters," Cynthia sighed. "But I still think they're the best."

"Good," Sango sighed. "Can we move on now?"

"You guys did quite well," Serefina said, gesturing for the Poochyena to run back to her. "…Except for Sango. Now then, you all can have a free period for the rest of class."

Serefina gestured for the Poochyena to follow her. Cynthia watched after her, blood trickling from her nose.

"Okay, I get your point," Cynthia said, nodding. The Poochyena with black spots turned his head to Blake and barked, running off.

"Aw, you made a friend," Sango grinned.

"So, are any of you thinking about becoming members of the Battle Course?" Akira asked, Blake and Sango turning to him.

"I am, but Sango…"

"I'm gonna be a ranger," Sango explained.

"Oh, I'm a battler!" Cynthia said, smiling.

"Kumari, come on out," Akira said, tossing out a pokeball, which a Beartic emerged from. It flexed its arms, and stroked its chest.

"Whoa, that guy looks pretty tough," Cynthia said, grinning, moving around the bear pokemon to look at it from each angle.

"This is Kumari, my partner," Akira said, patting the Beartic on the back. "He's pretty strong, and he's always got my back."

Akira turned to them, grinning. "Anyone thing that you can match my guy?"

"Oh yeah!" Cynthia said, grinning. "Let's go! Tristan, come on out!"

Cynthia tossed out a pokeball, which her Breloom emerged from.

"You guys are seriously battling?" Blake asked, he and Sango moving back, as well as Dakota.

"Tristan, full force, let's go!" Cynthia cheered, her Breloom charging at the Beartic. Tristan swung a mach punch at Kumari, knocking him backwards. Tristan then opened his mouth, firing a blast of seeds right at the ice type.

"Ice beam," Akira ordered, Kumari opening his mouth and firing a beam of ice at the seeds, freezing them solid and hitting Tristan, who cried out in pain as the ice began to cover over his body.

"Tristan!" Cynthia cried out.

"Aqua jet!" Akira said, Kumari coating his body in a veil of water and charging at Tristan. Kumari opened his mouth and fired an ice beam, freezing over the water, slamming into Tristan.

Tristan flew backwards and hit the water, sinking. He bobbed up a few seconds later, encased in ice.

"Return," Cynthia sighed, disappointed, returning Tristan back to his pokeball. She turned to Akira and grinned. "That guy is pretty powerful, though! I better train up to beat him!"

"Way to go," Akira said, smiling, patting Kumari on the back. The bear pokemon beamed, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"Hah, that wasn't so great," Dakota said, shrugging. "I mean, my Faux can beat that guy."

"Oh, you want to battle, then?" Akira asked, turning to her. "I can take down some two-bit reporter in my sleep."

"Two-bit?" Dakota sputtered. "How dare you? You think you're some tough trainer, but you're not hot stuff at all!"

Dakota stormed off as Serefina walked back, smiling.

"Back already?" Akira asked, surprised.

"Yup," Serefina said, smiling. "I came here to play with some of my pokemon. I also wanted to see what Blake's pokemon were like."

"Why?" Blake asked.

"Your caretaking skills were truly impressive," Serefina explained. "So I was wondering if I could see some of your pokemon, to see how you've taken care of them?"

"Um, sure, I guess…" Blake said, nodding. He released his pokemon from their pokeballs; Cory, Weiss, Rogen, Tara, and a Solosis.

"Wow!" Sango said, her eyes widening in surprise, as this was the first time she'd seen most of Blake's pokemon. "Your Scizor is really cool, Blake!"

"Hear that, Weiss?" Blake asked, grinning. "You're cool."

Weiss turned to Sango, and nodded in thanks.

"What is this thing?" Cynthia asked, hugging the Solosis. Its body was rather squishy, and pressed up against Cynthia, smiling. "It feels like a-"

"It's Uni, my Solosis," Blake explained. "She doesn't like battling that much, and she's kind of shy."

"Well, I think she's a cutie," Cynthia said, squishing the green pokemon up against her cheek.

"Here are some of my friends," Serefina said, waving her pokemon over. A Phanpy ran over to her from the shade of a tree, nuzzling up to Serefina's leg.

"Oh, what a cute pokemon!" Sango said, smiling, the Phanpy blushing in embarrassment.

"This is Trunks, my Phanpy," Serefina said, smiling. "Over there is Tortimer, my Torkoal, and Freddy, my Teddiursa."

Serefina pointed to the tree Phanpy had been under. A Torkoal was laying on the ground, asleep, a Teddiursa curled up beside him for warmth.

"I don't let my Vigoroth out of his pokeball that often because he's very hyper and violent, but my Banette should be…"

A ghostly hand smacked Cynthia on the butt, Cynthia whirling around to see no one there.

"What the heck?" Cynthia asked, looking around, frowning.

"Barneby!" Serefina said strictly. A Banette appeared in front of her, a sheepish expression on his face.

"Sorry," Serefina sighed.

"No, it's totally fine," Cynthia said, smiling. "Although, if you wanted to make it up to me, some quid pro quo would be-"

"Yeah, no," Blake said, pulling her hand away.

Meanwhile, Cory was looking around for something to do. His eyes landed on Kumari, and they narrowed. The water pokemon scurried up to the bear, banging his claws on his chest and glaring at him.

Kumari looked down, scratching his neck in confusion.

"Cor!" Cory cried, aggressively pointing his pincer at Kumari, seemingly desiring a fight.

"Sci," Weiss stepped between the two, gesturing a pincer towards Cory to suggest he move back. Cory sighed, scuttling back a few feet, keeping his eyes trained on Kumari.

"Scizor," Weiss said, gesturing towards Cory.

"Bear," Kumari said, nodding. "Beartic."

Kumari pointed a claw at itself and then at Weiss.

"Sci?" Weiss asked, surprised.

"Beartic," Kumari said, nodding, his expression turning serious.

"I wonder what they're saying?" Sango said, interested.

"The Scizor was apologizing for that Corphish trying to start a fight," a voice said. Everyone turned to see a man walk up to them, frowning. Behind him, Julia and Kitty followed.

The man was wearing the uniform of a student, but carried a more serious air. He held a cane in his right hand, and wore a pair of sunglasses. A wicked scar curved up from across his lip to just past his left eye. He had pale brown hair, and a frown.

"Meanwhile, the Beartic was saying that there was not a problem, and that it wanted to fight to begin with."

"How do you know that?" Sango asked, surprised.

"It's my ability, the student chuckled. "I can hear things, the true feelings of pokemon, and what their words mean."

"You speak pokemon?" Cynthia asked, surprised.

"Not the words, no," the student said, shaking his head. "But I can feel their voices, the intention behind their words."

"Wow, that's amazing…" Sango said.

"I am Oscar Silph," the student said, frowning. "It is nice to meet all of you…"

The man limped up towards Blake, leading with his cane. He stopped in front of Blake, staring at him from behind his sunglasses.

"'I want to fight'," Oscar said.

"Excuse me?" Blake asked, confused.

"That's what the pokemon you kept in its ball is saying," Oscar said. "'I want to fight'."

Blake wrapped his fingers around the pokeball at his waist.

"It's alright," Oscar said, smiling, placing his hand on Blake's shoulder. "I understand what it's like to have a pokemon you can't quite control."

"I see, thanks," Blake said, nodding.

"I get it too," Serefina said, nodding. "I have a pokemon that isn't always obedient to me."

"Well then, Blake, how interesting," Akira said, Blake turning to face him.

"What do you mean?"

"If our pokemon want to fight, don't you think we should let them?" Akira asked, his lips curling into a smile.

"Weiss, that okay with you?" Blake asked, turning to his Scizor. Weiss looked to him, and nodded.

"Cor!" Cory called, snapping his pincers together in excitement.

"Excellent!" Everyone turned to see Dakota appear before them, holding her camera up.

"What are you doing here?" Akira demanded.

"I've returned…" Dakota giggled, "in order to fully record this battle for posterity!"

"Seriously?" Akira sighed.

"You don't understand, fool," Dakota said, shaking her head in a mocking fashion. "Remember, you placed 4th in the school tournament last year, even though you were a freshman at the time. You're quite the rising star, even I've written an article on you."

"I remember that article," Akira snarled, narrowing his eyes, Dakota smirking.

"Anyways," Dakota continued, ignoring Akira's anger, "if you two are going to battle, I think we can make this quite a spectacle, don't you?"

"What kind of spectacle?"

"An official match!" Dakota said, grinning. "With an audience, an official judge, and the honorable I, Dakota Evans, will be an MC!"

"NO."

"Oh, come on, Akira, don't be like that!" Dakota said, wrapping an arm around Blake's chest and pulling him in close to her. "I'm sure Blake here would want to be part of an official match, wouldn't you Blake?"

"Um, not really," Blake said, pulling away from her.

"No need to be shy, you'll get to show off all of your skills and techniques before a live audience! And give me a week of media news and hype I'm sure I can make the seats positively PACKED!"

"Come on, Blake, you've gotta do it!" Cynthia said, her eyes brimming with excitement. She was practically jumping in midair.

"Seriously?" Blake sighed.

"The noise, the lights, the cheering, it's all amazing!" Cynthia said. "It's such an awesome feeling, if I were in your position, fighting in front of all those people, showing off the great strength of your pokemon! It's such a rush!"

"…I'll take your word for it," Blake said, nodding. "I'm fine with a casual battle to see who's better, but I don't want some sort of super intense event or anything."

"Oh, come on, Blake!" Cynthia huffed. "Tournaments in this school won't be casual, right? It's better to get over your stage fright now, since there isn't anything that important on the line, don't you think?"

"…I guess…"

"Oh, also, I might be willing to offer a pokepoint prize to whoever wins," Dakota said, smirking.

"Seriously?" Akira asked. "I'm fine with it, then."

"I assumed as much," Dakota said, nodding. "Nothing major, just 100 points."

"Why would you offer a cash prize, though?" Akira asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

"Simple," Dakota said, smirking. "Whoever wins, I'll be able to get an exclusive story for next week's edition. I'll have access to an exclusive interview, sound good?"

"What makes you think I want to get interviewed?" Akira asked, frowning.

"Well, no one said you were going to win, did they? Besides, 'Freshman Trainer Defeats 4th Place Tournament Finalist' is a much more appealing title."

"I agree," Cynthia said, nodding.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to win and muck up your plans, how about that?" Akira said, smirking.

"…" Dakota said, frowning. "'Sophomore Bully Annihilates Heartbroken Freshman' could be a good working title."

"Hack."

"Seriously? You're calling me a hack?" Dakota exclaimed, irritated.

"Half your 'breaking news' stories are lies, and the other half are exaggerated to the extent where you can't even find out the original source material. That's not journalism, that's Fox News."

"Should you really be making a joke about that?" Dakota asked, Akira shrugging.

"Well, anyways," Dakota said, turning to Blake, "it looks like you're the last one to make your decision, isn't that right?"

"…I guess," Blake said.

"Come on, Blake!" Cynthia exclaimed. "You've gotta do it, you've just gotta!"

"I agree with her," Sango said, nodding eagerly. "It'll be pretty cool, seeing one of us fighting an official school match!"

"And I'LL be there," Cynthia said, grabbing Blake by the shoulders, "to cheer you on!"

"…What?" Blake asked.

"Come, Sango!" Cynthia said, grabbing Sango by the wrist. "We shall go now, I've got to show you some of my cheerleading outfits!"

"…Wait, no!" Sango exclaimed, struggling against Cynthia's iron grip. "I don't do that well with outfits or the like!"

"Come on, Sango, you've got the perfect body for it!" Cynthia laughed.

Sango looked over to the others with a look of desperation as she was being dragged away.

"Sorry," Blake mouthed, Sango hanging her head in defeat.

"So, what's it going to be, Blake?" Dakota asked.

"…Fine, I'll fight…" Blake sighed, shaking his head.

* * *

Excellent. The battle should be interesting.


	7. Chapter 6

Well now, here's another chapter!

Seje For Days: Well, we'll have to see, won't we?

Mightymareep98: Yeah, I hope I can live up to the hype the battle built up.

Wildlian: Apparently so.

Duskzilla: It seems that joke went over your head. Ah well. Still, Serefina will be a semi-recurring character.

Daozang: I assumed someone like her would have cheerleader outfits. And ones for her pokemon too.

Phantom-Jester: That would have been a little corny.

Tbroome535: Well, I hope so.

Sonofthetrigod: Pretty much both.

BloodStarGeneral: Well, we'll see.

DCBorrelli: She's pretty awesome.

DeviouslyNormal: By your definition: Bisexual – sexual appeal towards male and female. Cynthia is sexually attracted to both males and females. Therefore she's bisexual.

Dragon soul45: Probably.

Akuma114: Sorry, all characters have been accepted for now.

Darkhammer: Awesome.

Eevee Madness: Well, romance will definitely be a part of this story, so we'll have to see!

PainlessDeaths: That would be fine, if you want.

ShaydeZyro: True… However, Weiss has a type advantage, as well…

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 6

* * *

"So, what do you think?" Cynthia asked, stepping out of her room in front of Julia and Blake, who were forced to wait in the hallway. She wore a short white and red pleated skirt and a white and red top in a pokeball pattern, a bright smile on her face. She spun around to show off her outfit to the two.

"Wow…" Blake said, nodding.

"See? Rose is even wearing the same thing!" Cynthia said, holding her Ralts up, who had a matching red and white shirt on and was holding two pom-poms in matching colors.

"What about Sango?" Julia asked.

"About that…" Cynthia said, glancing aside.

"Absolutely not," Sango declared from behind the door.

"Oh, come on, you look good in that!" Cynthia said, giggling.

"No, I don't!" Sango exclaimed. "See, I'm a foot taller than you, almost!"

"…So?" Cynthia asked.

"So, your 'miniskirt' is like wrapping toilet paper around my waist! This doesn't cover anything!" Sango cried. She walked outside, blushing. Her skirt wasn't as short as she made it seem, but it definitely didn't cover as much of her as it did Cynthia, and she was constantly pulling it down. The shirt was short as well, revealing her midriff, and tighter on her athletic frame.

"Wow, it looks good on you…" Blake said, nodding, eyeing her up and down. "Especially the legs…"

Sango moved back uneasily, while Cynthia and Julia both lightly swatted him on the head.

"Hey, it was a compliment!"

"Thanks, but I'm changing back," Sango said, ducking into her room. Cynthia sighed, shaking her head.

"Darn, she looked pretty cute in that skirt, too…"

Cynthia turned to Blake, and smiled.

"Okay, Blake, let's get to training you, okay?" Cynthia asked, smiling. "Julia and I will help you train up, since Sango doesn't like using her pokemon for fighting."

"Exactly," Sango said, walking out of the room, in normal clothes. "Silver doesn't fight, and I don't do battles if I don't have to."

The group of four headed out of the dorm and walked to one of the empty fields on the edge of the forest beside Bulbasaur Dorm.

"Okay, Blake, I'll be the first one to help," Julia said, smiling. "Roden, let's do it!"

Julia tossed out a pokeball, which a Houndoom emerged from. The fierce looking dog pokemon glared at Blake, snarling. Julia whistled, Roden padding up to her like a sweet little puppy and licking her hand.

"Cory, go," Blake said, tossing out a pokeball, which his Corphish emerged from. He glared at Roden, snapping his pincers, and ran towards the Houndoom.

Roden opened his mouth, firing a blast of flames at Cory, who jumped to the side. Roden ran towards him and raised his claw, swinging it down roughly. Dark energy surged through it and hit Cory in the chest, knocking him backwards.

Cory landed on his back and waved his claws frantically. Roden opened his mouth, bit down roughly on Cory's tail, and lifted him into the air. Roden swung his head, flinging Cory across the field. Cory crashed to the ground, enraged, and charged at Roden.

Roden matched with another blast of flames, Cory leaping to the side and holding his pincers up. Cory fired a barrage of powerful bubbles at Roden, which exploded on contact, knocking the dog pokemon backwards.

"Cory, use aqua jet!" Blake ordered. Cory covered his body in a veil of water and charged towards Roden at a high speed, pincer raised.

"Roden, use faint attack," Julia ordered. Roden disappeared, appearing above Cory, and swung down with his claw, nailing Cory head on in the back. Cory cried out in pain and fell to the ground, gasping.

Roden, slightly damaged by the water, leapt back and growled at Cory, before firing another flamethrower at the immobile water pokemon.

The flames struck, Blake holding his hands up and walking over to the Corphish. He knelt beside Cory and returned him to his pokeball, turning to Julia.

"Wow, your Houndoom is really strong," Blake said, surprised.

"Yeah, Roden is my main battler," Julia bragged. Roden walked up to her, his teeth curled in a happy expression, Julia affectionately patting him on the head.

"You did good, Roden, how about you take a little break for now?"

"That was pretty good, Blake," Sango said, walking up to him, grinning. "Still, I can't believe your water pokemon lost to a fire type, I guess you should have taken into account Houndoom's dark type moves."

"Oh?" Blake asked.

"See, I bet you were concerned with the fire type moves, right? And that's why you decided to train your Corphish against her," Sango explained. "But at this level, Houndoom's strongest moves are its dark types, and that's what ended up getting the better of your Corphish."

"…You know, for someone who doesn't do pokemon battles, you're certainly very involved in giving him advice," Cynthia said, smiling, leaning in close to Sango.

"Well, I guess, um, I just…" Sango said, her face pink, "I kind of like battles… But I don't like having my pokemon get injured…"

"So you're skilled at battling, but you don't do it yourself, huh?" Cynthia asked, surprised. "Maybe you should give it a try sometime."

"What do you think, Silver?" Sango asked, turning to her Castform. Silver looked down, frowning.

"I agree, the purpose of Pokemon Rangers isn't to hurt pokemon, it's to help them," Sango said, nodding.

"Hey, Blake, what's taking so long?" Julia asked, Blake turning back to her.

"Okay, yeah, I'm ready," Blake said, nodding.

"Wolfie, come on out!" Julia said, tossing out a pokeball, which her Poochyena emerged from.

"Okay, Tara, go," Blake said, Tara emerging from her pokeball.

"Wolfie, use tackle," Julia ordered, her Poochyena charging at Tara.

"Tara, vine whip!" Tara raised her hand, a vine shooting out and slapping Wolfie on the head. Wolfie shook her head, and growled at Tara. Wolfie held her paws up and planted them on the ground, releasing a shockwave of dark energy that knocked Tara off of her feet. Tara landed on the ground, shaking, and stood up.

Wolfie tackled her as she rose to her feet, knocking her backwards. She stood up, angered, and held her hand up, creating a tornado of leaves. The tornado knocked Wolfie into the air, and she fell to the ground, injured.

Wolfie snarled and ran towards Tara, who ran towards the dog pokemon as well. Tara raised her tail, which began to glow with a silver light. Tara charged with her iron tail prepared, and swung it straight at Wolfie. However, just before it made contact, the light faded, and her tail lightly hit Wolfie on the muzzle. Wolfie bit down on Tara's tail, Tara crying out in pain. She used a vine whip attack to knock Wolfie in the cheek, Wolfie glaring at her. She fired a dark pulse from her mouth, hitting Tara head on, knocking her backwards.

Tara stood up, glaring at Wolfie, and fired a tornado of wind and leaves at the dog, knocking her off of her feet, and charged at her again. Tara attempted to use iron tail a second time, her tail glowing a bright silver. This time, Tara's iron tail met its mark, striking Wolfie in the face. Wolfie was knocked into the ground, where she lay, unconscious.

"Well, that was much better!" Sango said, smiling.

"Way to go, Blake!" Cynthia cheered. Julia returned Wolfie to her pokeball, and shrugged.

"Okay, let's keep the momentum going, sound good?" Julia asked.

"Okay, got it," Blake said, nodding. "Tara, are you ready to keep going?"

Tara shook her head, exhausted.

"She really needs to work on her iron tail attack," Sango said. "That was a strong move she was working with, but it didn't connect that first time…"

"Yeah, she's had trouble with it," Blake said, nodding. "I've been working on it with her, but it just hasn't been connecting all the time."

"It's probably because she runs out of power to flow through the move," Sango said, frowning. "Still, though, I bet I can work with it, what do you think?"

"Yeah, does that sound good, Tara?" Blake asked, turning to the small pokemon, who turned her head, frowning.

"She's fine with it," Blake said, smiling.

"Okay, come on!" Sango said, kneeling down and picking up the grass pokemon.

"So, shall we continue?" Julia asked, Blake nodding.

"Rogen, go."

"Luna, go!"

An Umbreon emerged opposite Blake's Boldore, its body a dark grey and covered in light blue rings, with piercing yellow eyes.

"Oh, that Umbreon!" Cynthia said, her eyes wide. "It's a shiny!"

"Yup," Julia said, nodding. "Isn't she pretty?"

"She really is…" Cynthia said, nodding.

"Now then, let's go, Blake!" Julia said, turning to Blake.

"Rogen, use power gem!" Blake ordered. Shining gems floated around Rogen, and launched at the dark pokemon.

"Luna, use faint attack!" Julia ordered. Luna disappeared, reappearing behind Rogen, and hitting him in the back with her claw. Rogen spun around, swinging his talon and hitting Luna in the shoulder, knocking her off balance.

Rogen formed a large stone in his talon and fired it at Luna, hitting her head on. Luna gasped out, falling onto the ground.

"Rock slide!" Blake ordered. Rogen held his claws up, a large blast of rocks flying towards Luna.

"Luna, quick attack."

Luna closed her eyes, the blue rings on her body glowing. She skillfully avoided each rock falling towards her at a high speed, charging at Rogen. Dark energy surged through her claws, and she slashed at Rogen, injuring him.

Rogen placed his talons on the ground, and released a shockwave through the dirt. The tremors knocked Luna off of her paws, Rogen barreling towards her. He tackled her at full force, knocking her into a tree, Luna falling to the ground, unconscious.

"Pretty good," Blake, Julia said, nodding, returning Luna to her pokeball. "I can't wait for us to have a real battle."

"Me neither," Blake said, grinning.

"Way to go, Blake!" Cynthia grinned, running up and high fiving him. "Now, it my turn, want to train with me?"

"Um, I guess?" Blake said, nodding.

"Sweetness," Cynthia said, nodding. "Okay, let's bring out all of your pokemon, sound good?"

Blake nodded, releasing Weiss, Uni, and even Cory from their pokeballs, though he was still a little weak.

"Are you sure?" Cynthia asked, concerned. "You don't look very ready."

"Cor!" Cory said, nodding eagerly, his eyes fierce and competitive.

"Well, okay then!" Cynthia cheered. "Okay, all of you, ready for some training?"

Weiss nodded, Cory snapped his pincers in excitement, and Boldore held a talon up in affirmative. Uni, however, shook her body, refusing.

"What's wrong?" Cynthia asked.

"Uni doesn't like fighting…" Blake explained. "So I'm trying to keep her from fighting as much as she has to."

"Well, I guess that's okay, but she'll have to fight sometime, right?" Cynthia asked.

"I know, that's why I need your help," Blake explained.

"Well, alright then!" Cynthia said, smiling. "Uni, does that sound like fun?"

Uni's body moved up and down, something like a nod.

"Awesome!" Cynthia said, hugging the floating green pokemon. She turned to Weiss.

"Okay, Mr. Red, from what I remember, you were a pretty fast and strong guy, am I right?"

Weiss nodded.

"Great!" Cynthia said, nodding. "I taught Tristan how to perfect his mach punch, and I can do the same with your bullet punch."

Cynthia released her Breloom from his pokeball.

"Tristan, use seed bomb," Cynthia ordered. Tristan opened his mouth and launched a seed into the air, which exploded into a barrage of seeds.

"Now, Weiss, hit them all out of the-"

Weiss released a barrage of punches from his pincers, destroying every seed in an almost-simultaneous strike, Cynthia's face turning pale.

"Well, maybe you won't need to train with me," Cynthia said, grinning.

"Sci," Weiss said, nodding.

"Now then, Uni!" Cynthia said, turning to the Solosis in her arms. "If you want to train your psychic powers, Rose is the best one to do it with, right, Rose?"

"Ralts!" Rose said, nodding, throwing her pom-poms up in the air in excitement.

Uni floated off to train with Rose, Cynthia turning to Cory and Rogen.

"Okay, guys, let's get training!" Cynthia said, smiling.

The group trained for the rest of the day, and as the sun set, they were all exhausted.

After returning their pokemon to their pokeballs, the group headed back into Bulbasaur Dorm, exhausted after a long day's work.

"Man, tomorrow is our battle class," Blake said, frowning.

"I guess our pokemon are a little tired out," Cynthia said, laughing.

"Silver and I are fine," Sango said, grinning, Cynthia, Blake, and Julia glaring at her.

Blake headed into his room as he said goodbye to the girls, seeing Reiner and Nick, who had hooked up a game station to Reiner's TV, and were currently playing a game called Pokemon Battle Festival, which could only be described as a battle simulator game.

"So, what's going on?" Reiner asked, frowning, looking up from his game at Blake.

"Huh?" Blake asked. "What do you mean?"

"Where have you been all day?" Reiner asked. "I haven't seen you since lunch."

"I was training with Cynthia, Sango, and Julia," Blake explained.

"Oh, is that what they're calling it now?" Reiner asked, grinning.

"…Yeah, not like that."

"I'm getting a little exhausted," Blake sighed, lying down on his bed. "I've got a big day coming up in less than a week, and I've been training for hours…"

"Oh, need some time to yourself, huh?" Reiner asked.

"No, that's fine…" Blake said, shaking his head. He put his headphones on over his ears, letting the sounds drown out his friend's voice.

"See, Nick, real women just bring you nothing but trouble," Reiner said, shaking his head. "That's why waifus are better."

"What?" Nick asked. "You mean like 2-D women?"

"No, that's just creepy."

"Then what do you mean?"

"Well, for example, I believe that the only women worth considering are movie stars and celebrities," Reiner said, smiling. "That's why I've got so many pictures of them."

Reiner gestured to his wall of movie star portraits.

"Currently, my favorite waifu is Harriet Willow, who starred in that new Starly Wars movie and was in that remake of Romeo and Wobbufett," Reiner bragged.

"…" Nick wanted to say something, but at the same time he felt that whatever he said wouldn't get through to the massive amount of idiocy Reiner was displaying before him, so he decided to go back to their game.

The game Pokemon Battle Festival was actually an amazingly interactive game simply for the fact that the game came with a special device that allowed the players to scan their pokemon into the game, creating data copies within the game that were exactly the same as the pokemon entered, with the same moves, levels, and stats.

As neither trainer had a full party of pokemon, the battle was a three on three, with Nick's Charmeleon and Reiner's Zangoose being the only two pokemon left.

The Zangoose swung a crush claw attack, hitting the Charmeleon head on, knocking it out.

"Oh yeah, I win!" Reiner said, smirking. "Your Charmeleon hasn't got anything on my Weaver!"

"Yeah, well, I just have to train up my team some more, you'll see," Nick said, frowning.

"Train all you want, my team will kick the collected asses of your team."

As Reiner and Nick prepared for another battle, Blake looked up at the bed above him, frowning. Sound coursed through his ears from the headphones he was wearing, relaxing him.

Blake closed his eyes, pondering.

 _My first official battle as a student of the Pokemon Academy… This should be a rather enjoyable experience._

Meanwhile…

"Oh, come on, what's the harm in it?" Cynthia asked, frowning. "I don't want Rose and I to be the only ones cheering for Blake!"

"I refuse," Julia said, frowning.

"Oh, come on, Sango's too tall, but you're fine!"

"I refuse the concept of cheerleading with every single fiber of my existence."

"Please?"

"I categorically refuse to participate in cheerleading."

"You guys are just no fun at all!" Cynthia huffed. "I mean, Sango, you're all for doing new things, right?"

"Yeah, I am," Sango said, nodding. "And cheering for Blake is what I intend to do. But that doesn't mean I'm going to put on a cheerleader's uniform, understand?"

"…Spoilsport…" Cynthia sighed shaking her head. "I guess it'll just have to be me and Rose, then…"

* * *

Not that there's a problem with that, of course.


	8. Chapter 7

Well, everyone, here's another chapter, with some more characters introduced! Review!

Phantom-Jester: Please, those are excellent titles.

Sonofthetrigod: We'll see…

Mightymareep98: That was the intent, yes.

BloodStarGeneral: Enjoyable enough.

Duskzilla: She wouldn't fit into the uniform, unfortunately. Cynthia's breasts aren't that big.

Dragon soul45: What do you mean?

My Wunderwaffle iz missin: Well, she still should.

Seje For Days: I agree with her, however.

Daozang: Well, I picture Cynthia dressing up in different outfits in her spare time.

Darkhammer: Thanks.

Eevee Madness: We will soon enough.

PainlessDeaths: I will soon enough, don't worry.

ShaydeZyro: That's the kind of person Cynthia is.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 7

* * *

As he arrived in his battling class, Blake sat down next Cynthia.

"Okay, so are you ready?" Cynthia asked, excited. "We only have until the end of the week to continue with the training!"

"…Training?" Cynthia and Blake turned to see another student sitting behind Cynthia, paying attention to their conversation. He had copper colored hair and green eyes,

"Yes, why?" Blake asked.

"…Never mind," the student said, turning away, frowning.

"…" Cynthia eyed him, frowning.

Blake noticed Julia walk into the classroom, not realizing she had been in the class the last time he was there.

"Okay, students," the professor walked into the classroom, the rest of the students taking their seats. "Since today is the first official class, I have a surprise for you all."

Cynthia was excited at the process of a surprise.

"For class today, we'll be heading to the training area of Charizard Hall," the professor declared. "I assume you all have your pokemon with you?"

After the class affirmed, the professor led them down the hall into a large arena, the class looking around in surprise.

"This place is so cool!" Cynthia said, grinning. The dirt stone floor was well maintained and the entire area was illuminated with spotlights, with large bleachers up against the walls for audiences to observe.

"Are we going to get to battle on this field?" Cynthia asked the professor, smiling.

The professor nodded, musing.

"Something like that…"

"Professor Kashita," a voice said. The professor turned to see a girl walk up to him, frowning. She had ice-cold blue eyes and long, black hair. She wore the standard female uniform, with the exception of tight jeans instead of the usual skirt, and a red armband around her left arm, signifying she was a Battle Course student, and a Junior.

"Class, this is Gabrielle Breaux," Professor Kashita said.

"Elle," the girl said.

"She's a student of mine, and is in my Advanced Battle Tactics class," the professor explained. "She's expected to become a gym leader a few years from now."

"Why is she with us?" Julia asked.

"Well, I believe that the best training for each of you will be to battle against her in a one on one pokemon battle," he explained. "She'll use one pokemon against each of you. This will be the best measurements of your skills. Who would like to go first?"

A forest of hands shot up, Cynthia's included.

"Will Harmond, you'll go first," the professor said, pointing at the copper haired student from before. He nodded,

Elle and Will each stood on an opposite side of the arena, the rest of the students in the class sitting down in the bleachers.

"Froslass, come out," Elle said, tossing out a pokeball, which a pokemon emerged from. The pokemon wore a white kimono tied with a red ribbon, and two long hands coming down from her head.

"An ice type, huh?" Will asked. "Well then, Sol, come on out!"

Will tossed out a pokeball, which a Larvesta emerged from, the small bug practically sizzling with flames across its white fur and red antenna.

"Awesome, that fire type should win this!" Cynthia said, smiling.

"Flame wheel!" Will said. Sol's antenna glowed with flames, coating him in a veil of fire. He charged at the Froslass.

"Thunderbolt," Elle ordered. The Froslass held her hands up, blue electricity crackling in the center, firing the bolt at Sol, hitting him head on. Sol collapsed to the ground, shaking in paralysis.

The Froslass flew towards Sol, hold her hands up, a sphere of dark energy forming in front of her mouth, firing it straight at the bug type, exploding against him, knocking him out.

"…Whoa…" Will said, his mouth open in shock, so much so that he forgot to return Sol to his pokeball for a second.

"Amazing…" Cynthia said, shocked.

"Who's next?" Professor Kashita asked. No one else volunteered this time.

After no one else volunteered, the professor began calling out students at random. After a few more students were completely stomped by the Froslass, it was Cynthia's turn.

"Okay, wish me luck, guys," Cynthia said, nervous. She ran up onto the stadium, eyeing the Froslass nervously.

"Ready?" Elle asked.

"Yeah, you bet!" Cynthia said, grinning. "Come at be, Breaux!"

"…" Elle stared at Cynthia in silence, Cynthia's face slowly getting red in embarrassment.

"N-never mind! Ruby, go!"

Cynthia tossed out a pokeball, which her Mawile emerged from.

"Oh, that might do it," Blake said, interested.

"Faint attack!" Cynthia ordered. Ruby disappeared, reappearing behind the Froslass, hitting her in the back. The attack knocked the Froslass forwards, Cynthia cheering in excitement. It was the first attack to successfully hit the ice type.

"Confuse ray," Elle ordered. A sphere of light appeared in the Froslass' hands, moving erratically towards the Mawile. Ruby attempted to follow the sphere with her eyes as it spun around her, before finally falling over. Of course, the Froslass was quick to take advantage of the situation, holding her hands up. Hail clouds formed overhead, pelting the battlefield with hail. In response, large awnings stretched out over the bleachers, protecting the students. Cynthia, however, was not protected.

"Ouch! Ow!" Cynthia cried, shielding her head from the hail pelting her. The hail quickly picked up strength until it was almost a blizzard, completely obscuring the Froslass from view.

"Blizzard," Elle's voice could be heard from the downpour of hail. The icy winds began to shift and take shape, wrapping around Ruby's body and freezing her solid.

The hail cleared up, leaving Ruby trapped in a cube of ice, unable to move.

"Oh yes, this is very nostalgic," Cynthia said, frowning.

The Froslass formed a powerful shadow ball and launched it at the enormous ice cube, hitting it head on. The sphere of energy broke through the ice and hit Ruby in the face, sending her flying through the air. Ruby crashed down onto the ground, unconscious.

"Darn, you did such a good job, too…" Cynthia sighed, returning Ruby to her pokeball. Her expression soon returned to a happy one, however.

"Don't worry, no problems!" Cynthia cheered. "Let's continue later!"

Cynthia skipped off the battlefield, sitting down between Julia and Blake once again.

"Julianna Keruz, you're up next," Professor Kashita declared.

"Professor," Elle said, frowning, Professor Kashita turning to her.

"Yes?"

"My Froslass is running out of PP, would it be alright if I could change pokemon?"

"Of course."

"Darn," Julia said, frowning. "My Roden would be able to take her Froslass no problem!" Julia walked out onto the battlefield as Elle returned her Froslass.

"Glaceon, come out," Elle said, tossing out a pokeball, which a Glaceon emerged from, her face bright and excited. The small blue fox pokemon looked around, ready to fight.

"Glaceon!" Glaceon said, nuzzling up against Elle.

"Not right now, we have a battle," Elle said, patting Glaceon on the head.

"So, you're training to be an ice type gym leader, huh?" Julia asked, grinning.

"Correct," Elle said, nodding.

"Well, I've considered becoming a fire type gym leader myself, or maybe becoming the first dark type gym leader," Julia said, shrugging.

"Interesting," Elle said, nodding.

"And my ace will be this guy, of course!" Julia said, smiling. "Roden, let's do it!"

Julia tossed out a pokeball, which her Houndoom emerged from, snarling at the Glaceon.

"Glaceon," Elle said, the Glaceon charging right at the Houndoom.

"Roden, use flamethrower!" Julia ordered. The Houndoom opened his mouth and fired a massive blast of flames at the Glaceon.

"Mirror coat," Elle ordered. Glaceon's body began glowing with a veil of pink energy. The flames struck her fur, and on contact redirected back towards the Houndoom, to Julia and Roden's surprise. The flames struck Roden, and while they didn't do much damage, did catch him off guard.

The Glaceon opened her mouth and fired a beam of ice at the Houndoom, hitting Roden in the paw, causing him to fall to the ground.

The Glaceon ran towards the Houndoom, the blue flaps on its head shooting out to the sides, hail pouring down once more.

Roden looked around, visibility down to almost nothing, Glaceon disappearing into the hail.

"Roden, use inferno!" Julia shouted. Flames shot out from around Roden's body, incinerating the hail as it made contact with him. The flames shot out, Glaceon jumping out of the way to avoid them as the hail clouds dissipated. Roden, spotting the Glaceon immediately, charged at it head on, his mouth open and flames burning in it.

As the Houndoom attempted to use fire fang, the Glaceon smiled. She opened her mouth, water swirling around in front of it. She fired a shockwave of water at the Houndoom in mid leap, hitting Roden straight in the muzzle. Roden yelped in pain and crashed onto the ground, unconscious.

"Darn," Julia said, frowning. She returned Roden to her pokeball, shaking her head.

Blake was really starting to get nervous now. Both Julia and Cynthia were strong opponents, and both had just been easily defeated by pokemon they should have had advantages over.

"Blake Harker, you're up next," Professor Kashita said, Blake gulping.

"You'll be fine, don't worry," Cynthia said, patting him on the back. "I'll be cheering for you!"

Blake nodded and headed out onto the battlefield, passing Julia.

"I warmed her up for you, you just have to finish her off," Julia said, smiling confidently.

Blake stepped up onto the battlefield, taking a pokeball off of his belt.

"Weiss, let's go!" Blake said, Weiss emerging from his pokeball.

"Yeah, I love watching Scizor move!" Cynthia cheered. "Come on, Blake! You can do it!"

"Weiss, use bullet punch!" Blake ordered. Weiss shot forward at top speed, releasing a barrage of quick punches at the ice type.

"Ice shard," Elle countered, the Glaceon forming several shards of ice that shot forwards, countering Weiss' strikes.

Weiss realized he was too close within the Glaceon's range and leapt back, but not quickly enough to avoid a shadow ball in the face.

Weiss jumped back, rubbing his face, glaring at the Glaceon. Glaceon howled, hail pouring down around them. She disappeared into the snow, Weiss looking around, frowning.

The Glaceon's call could be heard, the snow swirling around Weiss, as she used a blizzard attack on Weiss.

Suddenly, the wind began to swirl around Weiss, as if he was the center of a tornado. The ice and snow swirled around him and released out in several blades of wind and snow, knocking Glaceon back.

"Way to go, Weiss!" Blake said, smiling. "That razor wind is pretty amazing!"

Weiss nodded, smiling. He shot towards Glaceon at top speed, pulling his claw back, firing off a bullet punch barrage at Glaceon again.

Glaceon growled, releasing a shockwave of water from around her body, hitting Weiss head on in a powerful pulse, knocking him backwards. Glaceon ran towards him, a sphere of darkness forming in front of her mouth. She fired it right into Weiss' claw, the shadow ball exploding and knocking him backwards.

Weiss shook his head, glaring at Glaceon, who opened her mouth, firing a beam of ice at the Scizor. Weiss jumped to the side as fast has he could, but the ice beam clipped his wing, Weiss slipping and crashing on the ground.

Glaceon opened her mouth, wind and ice and snow dancing around her, hitting Weiss head on, cloaking him in a blanket of ice and snow that he was too weakened to dodge. The snow settled, revealing Weiss, shivering, unconscious.

"Excellent, Glaceon," Elle said, nodding.

Blake was silent, returning Weiss to his pokeball. He walked back over to the bleachers and sat beside Cynthia and Julia without a word.

More students followed after them, and Elle switched her pokemon a few more times, but no student came even close to defeating one of her pokemon.

"Amazing…" Blake said, shaking his head. "So that's the strength of a junior at this school, huh?"

The three of them were walking over to the Snorlax Commons, for lunch.

"Hey, don't get discouraged!" Cynthia said, frowning.

"Well, if she's that strong, and she's a junior, than Akira, even though he's a sophomore, I don't know…" Blake said, shaking his head. "I don't think I'm going to be strong enough."

"Don't say that!" Cynthia said, frowning. "You're plenty strong! You'll beat that Akira guy, no problem!"

"Yeah, with our support, you'll be sure to kick his ass!" Julia said, smiling. The three picked out their food and went out onto the patio.

"Guys!" Sango waved over to them, smiling. The three sat down at her table, noticing the kid sitting next to her.

"Who's he?" Cynthia asked, smiling.

"He's in my battle class," Sango explained. "Just like me, he's trying to become a Pokemon Ranger, so he doesn't like it any better than I do."

"Hi," he said, smiling, holding his hand out. "I'm Aidan."

Aidan was very well built, Blake noting his strong grip when he shook his hand. He had curly brown hair and hazel eyes, and deep tan skin.

"He seems kind of reserved and shy, so I thought it would be best if I just came up to him and said hi."

"Hey…" Julia said, nodding. "You're in our Pokemon Caretaker Course, aren't you?"

"That's right," Aidan said, nodding.

"Really?" Blake asked, surprised. "I still don't know half the people in our classes."

"I'm good with faces," Julia said, nodding. "And he sits in front of me."

"Yeah, I'm not the kind of person that a lot of people notice," Aidan said, grinning. "It's really helpful, because it lets me observe how other people act."

A small blue and black cat pokemon leapt up from the ground and onto Aidan's lap, nuzzling against his stomach.

"Oh, and this is my partner, Arion," Aidan explained. "He's a Shinx."

"Cool," Julia said, smiling. "Can I pet him?"

"Sure," Aidan said, nodding.

"So, Aidan, I'm sure you're pretty ripped under those clothes, right?" Cynthia asked, smiling.

"…What?" Aidan asked, a confused smile on his face.

"Down girl," Blake said, pulling her by the collar of her shirt onto the table bench.

"Keep in your pants, Fafnir," Sango snapped.

"Oh, jealous are we?" Cynthia asked, grinning. "And here I thought you were interested in Blake?"

"Wrong on both counts," Sango said, smiling sweetly. "Although, why are you so focused on who I might be interested in?"

"Out of the deep-seated love I hold for you, of course," Cynthia said, staring with mock-emotion into Sango's eyes. "I want to make you mine, so I don't wish to hand you over to any man."

Sango looked at Cynthia like she was an idiot.

"Don't be an idiot," she said a second later.

"Anyways, Blake, what's your next class?" Sango asked, turning back to him.

"I've got Pokemon Capturing," Blake explained. "Me and Cynthia are in the same class."

"Me too," Julia said.

"Who's your teacher?" Sango asked.

"Professor Green," Blake said.

"Oh, me too," Sango said.

"I thought that we have the same classmates for the Capturing Class as we do for the Battling Class?" Cynthia asked, confused.

"Oh, no, actually," Sango explained. "I talked to my teacher about it, and it turns out that half of each class combines with half of another class, and are taught by one teacher. I guess it's some sort of thing to make us all meet new people."

"Oh, I see."

"Even though Aidan and I are in the same Battling Class, we aren't in the same Capturing Class," Sango explained. "Although now that you guys are going to be in it, I can look forward to it again!"

"Um, how, exactly, are you going to be passing the Capturing Class?" Julia asked, everyone turning to her.

"What do you mean?" Sango asked, confused.

"Well, you're trying to be a Pokemon Ranger, which means you don't capture pokemon, you just befriend them, right? So what are you going to do when capturing pokemon becomes a class requirement?"

"…I don't know, I'll just have to see what happens," Sango sighed, looking down. "I really think there's a problem with making Pokemon Battling and Pokemon Capturing mandatory for all freshmen, there should be some way to opt out for people who want to become Pokemon Rangers."

"I agree," Aidan said, nodding.

"Well, either way, you still have to do it now," Cynthia said, shrugging. "So you might as well suck it up and do it, right?"

"…I guess," Sango said, nodding.

Later, Blake, Sango, Cynthia, and Julia walked into their classroom, located in Venusaur Hall, which was located on the very outskirts of campus, almost on the edge of the forest. Leading to the building was a large garden, fenced in by a gate that stretched out into the forest around them.

As they entered the classroom, Blake noticed that Reiner, Nick, and the girl Nikita from his Pokemon Myths & Legends class were also in the class, but a few students from his battling class, like that kid Will, were not present.

"Are you kids just going to stand there and do nothing?" a sharp voice said from behind them. Everyone turned to see a young woman standing behind them, glaring intensely at the students. The woman had brown hair cut down to her neck, with two long fringes hanging down the sides, to her shoulders. She wore a sleeveless blue shirt with black lining, and a pair of red shorts. She looked more like a student, but the glare in her green eyes and her stern expression clarified she was a professor. She wore a red and white porkpie hat.

The woman pushed past Blake and stood at the front of the classroom, frowning.

"Everyone, my name is Leaf, but you all can call me Miss Green," the professor stated. "I'll be your professor for this class, and I guarantee that this class will be nothing like any of your other classes."

* * *

Especially if she's the teacher. It's great to have her back on board.


	9. Chapter 8

So, how will we see Leaf perform her teaching job? It should be fun.

Aeromenca: I don't know if you've been threatened before, but I have. And I know what the potential outcomes are. I weighed the options, and I didn't feel that the risk was worthwhile. I don't want to lose my stories entirely, because there are still people who want to read some of what I've written for the plot. That's my final say on the subject. Until MA rated stories become acceptable to post on this site, I will not post lemons.

OmniDragon10: You're fictional?!

Sonofthetrigod: It's for the same reason that you can't declare the course you're entering until you're a junior. The purpose of the school is to determine what sort of Pokemon career you want, and that's why certain classes have to be mandatory.

Duskzilla: Agreed, that's why I had them be mandatory.

Phantom-Jester: Really? In what way?

The Bloody Seje: Yes, it has been a few years since I wrote Leaf. Too long, in my opinion.

Mightymareep98: It should be good.

Daozang: Well, Aoshi and Leanne were teachers as well. As you'll see, many of my old characters will return as teachers.

IfTimeWasStill: I know, I was having trouble adjusting my usual style of fighting (where the characters can talk) to pokemon battles again, but I've been working on it.

Darkmoonrise312: Elle is just boss like that.

Eevee Madness: Well, she's probably the closest to being one.

My Wunderwaffle iz missin: She's everyone's favorite character, so that's a likely possibility.

Dragon soul45: Definitely, why would I not?

Darkhammer: Yes. Yes they have.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 8

* * *

"Okay, all of you!" Professor Green had led all the students out into the field in front of the building, but had specifically instructed the students to bring their bags out.

"Place your Pokeballs, both occupied and not, on these trays," Professor Green ordered, gesturing towards a stack of trays like the ones at the airports. The students, confused, unclipped their pokeballs from their belts and placed them into the trays.

"What's the point of this?" Cynthia asked, confused.

"Now then, all done?"

The class nodded.

"Great!" Professor Green said, smiling. "Now then, for your first class, I thought it would be best for each of you to catch a pokemon!"

Sango and Cynthia both raised their hands.

"Yes?" Professor Green asked, frowning.

"I don't capture pokemon," Sango said, shaking her head. "I don't agree with it."

"…Okay…"

"Um, Professor, how are we supposed to capture a pokemon without any pokeballs?" Cynthia asked, confused.

Professor Green raised her lips into a smirk.

"Simple," she said, chuckling. "You'll be catching a pokemon with your bare hands."

The class let out a collective shout of shock.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Blake exclaimed.

"You can use anything you have on hand, and anything in your bag, but you cannot use any pokemon or any pokeballs. You can ONLY capture them with your own skills. Anyone failing to do so will fail for the day."

Sango's eyes widened in excitement.

"So I can catch them but I don't actually have to use pokeballs or have it be permanent?" Sango asked, cheering. "Awesome!"

"Not awesome!" Cynthia said, frowning. "How the hell?"

"Okay, get started!" Professor Green declared. The class stood there for a second, stunned, before heading out into the grass.

"Remember, you cannot leave the fence border," Professor Green declared over a megaphone.

"Crap, Blake, any ideas?" Cynthia asked, the two of them running into the forest to look for pokemon.

"I'm totally blank," Blake said, shaking his head.

Cynthia noticed a Weedle scurrying through the grass, and grinned.

"Okay, I've got this!" Cynthia lunged at the Weedle, but it skillfully dodged her, bringing its stinger down on her hand before scurrying up a tree.

"OW!" Cynthia cried, holding onto her hand in pain. "Stupid Weedle…"

"Guys, any luck?" the two turned to see Reiner and Nick approach them.

"Cynthia just tried to capture a Weedle, but it didn't go that well," Blake said.

"It stung my hand…" Cynthia wimpered, frowning.

"Yeah, we haven't had any luck either…" Reiner said, frowning.

"This is really hard…" Nick complained.

"Come on, guys," Cynthia said, smiling. "We've only been out here for a few minutes. She said we had the entire period."

"That's only an hour," Reiner said, frowning.

"The Professor said we could stay for an additional two hours if we wanted," Nick said, Reiner sighing.

"Whatever. This is a pain in the ass anyway."

"Who can catch a pokemon with their bare hands, anyway?" Blake asked.

"Hey, guys."

Everyone turned to see Sango walk up to them, smiling.

"Sango, found any pokemon yet?" Cynthia asked.

"Yup," Sango said, nodding. "I caught myself a cute little Weedle."

"Go kill yourself," Cynthia seethed.

"So, I figured that since I was done, I could come help you guys out."

"What about Julia?" Blake asked.

"She's out in the field, but no luck from what I've seen," Sango explained.

Julia, meanwhile, was not having much luck. She reached out, holding up a blanket, and moved towards a Shinx. She jumped onto the small blue and black feline, but it jumped out of the way. Electricity crackled in its teeth, and it bit down on Julia's hand, shocking her.

Julia glared at the Shinx, who ran up onto a rock, looking at her mockingly.

Julia narrowed her eyes, angered.

"I never knew… catching pokemon… was so hard…" Cynthia panted. They had been at it for about a half hour, and had found dozens of pokemon in the forest; of course, they'd all escaped.

"What a pain in the ass…" Reiner complained. Then, he noticed a Pidgey sitting on the branch of a tree.

"There we go!" Reiner said, running towards the Pidgey. However, as he was running, the ground gave out beneath his feet, and he found himself running on air. Then falling through the air.

"Reiner!" Cynthia cried, running over to the edge of the pit, the rest following after. The pit was only a few feet deep, but Reiner looked very uncomfortable laying in it.

"Yes, I did it!" a soft voice could be heard coming from behind the tree, and Nikita emerged from behind it.

Nikita leaned over the edge, and her face fell.

"What are you doing in my pokemon pit?" Nikita asked, frowning.

"That's what *grunt* I want to know…" Reiner muttered, Blake helping him out. "What sort of person would build a pit for pokemon?"

"…Um…" Nikita looked down, obviously embarrassed and apologetic.

"Don't worry, no harm done," Cynthia said, stepping between the two. "Anyways, I like your idea! It's pretty smart!"

"…Really?" Nikita asked, looking up at Cynthia with amber eyes.

"Yeah, and don't worry, we can still work with it," Cynthia said, grinning. "We've just got to string the tarp back up."

Cynthia and Nikita put the tarp back in place and covered it with leaves and grass.

"Well, good luck then," Cynthia said, smiling. "Got any tips for us?"

"Um… in the Johto Region, people could find pokemon by having their pokemon use headbutt on the trees…" Nikita suggested. Cynthia's eyes widened.

"Oh, that's a good idea!"

She turned to Blake, and pointed towards a nearby tree.

"Okay, Blake, headbutt that tree."

"Absolutely not."

"Don't you want to find a pokemon?" Cynthia exclaimed.

"Why do I have to do it?" Blake demanded.

"Well, obviously because you're the one here with the thickest head."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Well, Blake, you're really stupid and dense!"

"What? No I'm not! How can you say that?!"

"You are! You're so stupid and dense you haven't even noticed my feelings for you!" Cynthia exclaimed, holding her hand over her mouth when she realized what she'd just said.

Reiner and Nick were taken aback, while Sango's mouth was open in shock. Nikita blushed, surprised at the sudden confession.

"You… what…?"

"I… I like you…" Cynthia said, looking down, blushing. "Ever since we met, I thought that I must have had a crush on you…"

"…"

The two stared at each other in silence. Sango watched them with anticipation, excited.

"You're just saying that to get me to headbutt that tree, aren't you?"

"Damn it!" Cynthia cursed, stomping the ground in frustration. "Just do it already! God!"

"You do it!"

"I'm a girl! What sort of jerk makes a girl headbutt a tree?"

"What does being a girl have to do with it?" Blake asked, confused. "No one should be making anyone headbutt a tree, whether it's a boy or a girl."

"Girls have more delicate heads."

"Right, and that's you."

"I'm as delicate as a flower!" Cynthia said, frowning.

"Okay, that's a flat out lie," Sango interrupted. "Guys, let's just all work together."

"How did you capture that Weedle, then?" Blake asked.

"Oh, that was easy," Sango said, shrugging. "Berries."

"Berries?" Blake asked, interested.

"In my Wildlife class yesterday, my Professor took us out here and showed us all kinds of berries we can use to attract wild pokemon. There are all different kinds out here."

To show her point, Sango walked over to the tree they were standing under, and lifted herself up onto one of the branches. She skillfully began to climb the tree, Blake paying attention to what she was doing intensely.

"…Pink," Blake commented.

"Very pink," Cynthia agreed.

"What was that?" Sango asked, turning to look down at them, and noticing she was wearing a skirt.

She flushed red, pulling her skirt down to cover up as she sat on one of the branches. She pulled her vest off and formed it in the shape of a bowl, picking several berries off of the branches. She climbed down with one hand, the other hand cradling the berries gently. She jumped down, placing the berries on the ground.

She turned to Blake and Cynthia, flicking them on their foreheads.

"Ow!" the two cried simultaneously, holding their foreheads in pain.

"That's for peeking up my skirt," Sango scolded.

"Can I use some of these?" Nikita asked quietly, Sango turning to her.

"Of course!" She beamed. "These are Oran Berries, and are some of the best ones to attract different pokemon. If you're looking for certain kinds of pokemon, it might be better to use more specific classes of berries, but since you're just looking for pokemon in general, Oran Berries should be enough."

"Excellent lecture, Professor," Cynthia applauded, Sango's face glowing a bright red.

"I-It's just something anyone who wants to be a Pokemon Ranger should know, that's all."

Nikita took a few handfuls of the berries and placed them in a small pile on top of her pitfall trap. Everyone moved back, away from the pit. A Rattata scurried up towards the pitfall trap, its whiskers twitching about. It moved closer, and soon enough its body was fully over the tarp, falling through and hitting the bottom of the pit.

"Yay!" Nikita cheered. She reached down towards the Rattata thrashing around in the hole, and lifted it up by wrapping her hands around its torso.

The Rattata thrashed around a little, but Nikita held onto it tightly.

"Thanks," Nikita said, running back towards the classroom with the Rattata in hand.

"Well, that was nice, but what about us?" Blake asked.

"Simple, we'll just fix the booby trap up again," Sango said, smiling. They set the pit trap up again, and hit behind the trees. A yellow pokemon came running up to eat the Oran Berries, and just like the Rattata before it, fell into the pit.

The group ran over to the edge, but didn't see what they were expecting. At the bottom of the pit, instead of a pokemon thrashing to get free, a large hole had been dug, burrowing deep into the ground. A few feet away, the Sandshrew that had been trapped burst out of the ground, running back into the bushes.

"Well, so much for that," Sango sighed, lifting up the tarp and examining the large hole that had been ripped through the center of it.

"Great, what now?" Cynthia asked, frowning. She punched a tree in frustration, a pokemon falling out from its branches and landing in Nick's arms, a Kakuna.

"Oh, cool," Nick said, smiling. "Thanks, Cynthia!"

He headed out as well, Cynthia flushing in anger.

"Okay, this is starting to get annoying," Blake said, frowning. "Anyone have any other ideas?"

"Well, she said we could use anything in our backpacks, right?" Reiner said. "Well, maybe one of us will have something we can use."

Blake and Reiner both opened their bags, and turned to Cynthia. Cynthia looked away, uneasy for some reason, her face red.

"What about your bag?" Blake asked.

"N-no, it's fine, there's nothing in here we can use," Cynthia said, refusing to make eye contact with them.

"Fine, let me see," Sango said, grabbing the backpack from Cynthia before she could react, unzipping it for them to see.

"…" Blake and Reiner both looked at the contents of Cynthia's bag, Cynthia's face getting more and more red.

"Yeah, I-I don't think I have anything we can use," Cynthia said, quickly zipping up her bag.

"Why would you bring those things to class?" Sango exclaimed, holding her hands over her face in embarrassment.

"I-it's just reading material!" Cynthia exclaimed. "Wh-when I'm bored!"

"…" Sango stared at her derisively, shaking her head.

"L-let's just get back to catching pokemon!" Cynthia said, desperate to change the subject.

The three of them continued to make attempts at both finding and grabbing pokemon, Cynthia even using her tree punching again, but no luck.

"I got one!" Cynthia and Blake turned to see Reiner holding his shirt over a squirming shape.

"A Caterpie," Reiner explained. "It was scurrying up that tree."

"Lucky…" Cynthia complained. She turned to Blake. "I guess it's just you and me, then…"

Blake continued to look through his backpack to find something they could use, but other than his textbooks, he didn't have a lot in there.

Suddenly, he thought of something.

"I have an idea," Blake said. "Come on."

Blake grabbed Cynthia by the hand and led her out of the forest and back into the fields, Sango following after.

"What are we doing now?" Cynthia asked, confused.

"Okay, if I remember from my map…" Blake took the campus map out of his bag. "Right, there's a small stream that connects to the main river, and a lake too."

Blake and Cynthia headed into another section of the forest, behind the building, leading up towards the mountain the school was built beside. And the map was correct, a little ways into the forest, but still inside the enclosure, was a small lake. A thin tributary was flowing into it, no doubt connect to the large river flowing through the center of campus.

"Why did we come here?" Cynthia asked, frowning.

"Well, I think the lake and the river are big enough for pokemon to be swimming in, right?" Blake asked, Cynthia and Sango's eyes widening.

"Oh, good idea!" Sango said, nodding her head eagerly. "So, I assume you have a fishing rod in your backpack, right?"

"…No."

"Then what the hell is the point of your idea?"

"Do you have a fishing rod?" Cynthia asked Sango.

"Nope."

"I thought you were sport girl?" Blake asked, confused.

"Fishing is not a sport," Sango said, rolling her eyes.

"It's kind of a sport," Cynthia shrugged.

"Well, I don't have a fishing rod, but I do have one thing," Sango said, reaching into her bag, and pulling out a sleek neon green one piece.

"That won't fit me," Blake said, shaking his head.

"It's not for you, moron, I'm going to put it on."

Sango moved behind a tree, glaring at Cynthia and Blake. Blake got the hint, and turned away from her to face the other direction.

Cynthia continued to stand there, as if she didn't realize there were any problems. Sango narrowed her eyes at her.

"Hey, come on, I'm a girl!" Cynthia complained.

"Turn. Around."

Cynthia grumbled, but turned the other way. The two didn't look back until they heard Sango slip into the water.

"You two owe me for this, I already caught my pokemon."

Sango ducked underwater, and surfaced a few seconds later.

"Well, Blake, you were right. There are a ton of water pokemon in here."

"Great!" Cynthia said, smiling. "Blake, go get one."

Cynthia placed her hand on Blake's back, and before he knew it, he found himself tumbling into the water. As he hit, Blake was just grateful he'd left his headphones back in the classroom; he couldn't afford to get those wet.

Freezing water surrounded him, and he felt several things bump into him. Then, two soft hands grabbed onto him and he felt a slight tug, and was pulled up into something soft.

"Hey, are you okay?" Sango asked. Her arms were wrapped around his chest, which means his head was pressed against her…

"Yeah, I'm fine," Blake said, pulling away, treading water. He turned to Cynthia. "What was with that?"

"Come on, aren't you feeling refreshed?" Cynthia laughed. "It's nice to swim every once in a while, right?"

Cynthia herself then jumped into the water. She surfaced a few seconds later, her cherry colored hair matted all across her forehead.

"You're swimming in a skirt?" Sango asked incredulously.

"What's wrong with that?" Cynthia laughed.

"If you were going to come in anyway, why did I even come in here in the first place?"

"…To show off your cute bathing suit to Blake and I, right?"

"I'm leaving, go catch your own pokemon," Sango grumbled, swimming over to the edge of the lake and climbing out.

* * *

"…So, what happened to you two?" Professor Green asked, stifling a chuckle as she looked at Cynthia and Blake's soaked forms as they showed the Goldeens they had captured.

"I don't want to talk about it," Blake said, glaring at Cynthia, who smiled innocently.

"Well, the two of you pass," the Professor said, checking off their names. "…And you two might want to go dry off."

* * *

Yeah, they probably should. Just not in front of each other, right?


	10. Chapter 9

This chapter, we finally get to witness the battle between Akira and Blake!

Duskzilla: Catching pokeballs without your hands would be very difficult.

Mightymareep98: Well, that never made sense to me.

Maelstrom J: Not accepting new characters right now.

Phantom-Jester: I still don't see why Cynthia would be jealous, she doesn't like Blake either.

Sonofthetrigod: Yeah, there's no way she was being sincere about that.

Darkmoonrise312: Thanks!

Ingol: Not accepting new characters right now.

The Bloody Seje: Maybe, but that's not Blake.

Dragon soul45: Definitely.

Darkhammer: Maybe. Not likely.

DeviouslyNormal: Not a problem.

My Wunderwaffle iz missin: Don't worry, Weedle's stinger wasn't that bad.

Daozang: I assumed she would.

ShaydeZyro: I know, her perverted nature is really showing.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 9

* * *

"So, Blake, are you ready?" Julia asked, smiling. She and Blake were waiting outside of Bulbasaur House for the others to meet up with them.

"…I guess I'm as ready as I'm ever going to be…" Blake said, looking down worriedly.

"Don't worry, you'll be fine," Julia said. "And even if you lose, it doesn't matter that much, right?"

"Except for the fact that the whole school will be watching," Reiner said, walking out to meet the two of them. Blake's face went pale, Julia noticing and turning to Reiner with a glare.

"Not helping."

"Just trying to be realistic," Reiner shrugged.

"Okay, we're ready!" Cynthia burst out of the building, jumping down the steps to land in front of them, striking a pose. True to her word, she did in fact where a cheerleader uniform, as was Rose.

Blake held his hand in front of his face, blushing.

"Oh, sorry, is my femininity getting the best of your male hormones?" Cynthia teased, moving close to him.

"Seeing someone wearing that outfit while cheering for me is going to be more embarrassing than if I actually lose…" Blake said, shaking his head.

"Well, so much for your 'femininity' I guess," Julia said, smirking.

"Hey, you had your chance," Cynthia said, sticking her tongue out.

"I don't wear ponytails, and I don't do dress up," Julia said, frowning.

"Well, that's depressing, she's the only one in our group who could wear a ponytail," Blake sighed.

"You like ponytails?" Cynthia asked, surprised.

"Well, I mean, no more than normal…" Blake said, looking away, Cynthia staring at him suspiciously.

"Well, it's a good thing my hair's so short then," Cynthia said, running her fingers through her messy neck-length hair.

"What are we talking about?" Sango asked, walking out, Silver floating behind her.

"Blake's ponytail fetish," Cynthia said, shaking her head. Sango turned to Blake and looked down on him.

"Why are you staring at me like I'm scum?" Blake asked, frowning.

"Go lose in your battle, okay?" Sango said, smiling.

"Ouch, harsh," Cynthia said, frowning.

"What about the other guy?" Sango asked. "You know, the one who usually hangs out with Blake and Reiner?"

"Nick?" Reiner asked. "Oh, yeah, he said he was going to meet us there."

The five of them headed towards the main stadium, the central attraction on campus. The building stood taller than the other buildings, looking down over the flat landscape of the areas of campus at the base.

"Eon Stadium…" Cynthia said, shivering with excitement. "Oh, YEAH! This place looks so cool! I can't believe we haven't been in before!"

"Well, it's only open to students through registration and with instructor consent," Reiner said, looking through the student handbook. "I'm surprised that that reporter girl you told us about could get it reserved. Although, there are six different arenas, so maybe it's not that big of a shock."

"Well, look who it is."

Everyone turned to see Akira walk up to them, smiling. Serefina was by his side.

"Oh, is this the pre-match trash talking?" Sango asked excitedly.

"Nothing like that," Akira said, smiling. "I just want to wish Blake good luck."

"…Yeah, you too," Blake said, nodding.

"I notice you even got yourself a cheerleader, huh?"

"Of course~" Cynthia said, striking a flirty pose. "Although, your cheerleader is much better, in my opinion…"

"You're drooling…" Serefina said. "Also, I'm not a cheerleader, I'm just here for moral support. For both of you."

"Unforgiveable!" Cynthia said, shaking her head. "With a body like yours, it would be perfect!"

"Sorry about that," Julia said, pulling Cynthia back by the collar of her uniform. "This girl is a little…"

"I get it," Serefina said, smiling sympathetically. "Trust me, my roommate is a lot worse."

"Speaking of roommates, where is that girl?" Sango asked. "She said she was going to MC, right? So shouldn't she be here?"

"She is," Akira said. "She's at the stadium right now, with everyone else."

"Everyone… else?" Blake asked.

"Yeah, thanks to Dakota, your match together is now the first real event of the school year," Serefina explained, giggling. "Everyone's come to watch, even some juniors and seniors!"

"Great…" Blake said, nodding.

Blake watched reluctantly as Akira and Serefina headed into the stadium, and the group headed in after them.

The lights in the stadium were bright as Blake walked out, noticing Akira standing on the other side. Nick was already seated on one of the supporter benches, where the others sat down beside him. Blake was completely overwhelmed by the amount of people in the bleachers waiting eagerly. His legs were frozen. Everything was telling him to walk forwards, but he couldn't.

"Get on with it!" Someone threw an empty can that hit Blake in the head. Blake whirled around and shot Cynthia a dirty look. She gave him a thumbs up in response.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Dakota's voice rang out over the stadium, snapping Blake out of it. He turned to the announcer box, where Dakota, along with two other students, were sitting.

"It's nice to meet you all!" Dakota declared. "I am your lovely MC, Dakota Evans!"

"We know who you are!" Someone from the audience shouted.

"Get on with the fight!"

"Shut up you jerks!" Dakota shouted back. Her smile quickly returned. "Now then, allow me to introduce my co-MCs with you all! To my left, I have the… um… well, his name is Lukas!"

"Hello, my lovely friends!" Lukas declared, bowing dramatically, brushing his black hair from his eyes. "My name is Lukas Legato! And it is a great honor to be here in front of you all, commenting on this wonderful battle!"

"Shut up!" Someone shouted, throwing garbage at him.

"Give me back my son!" Another voice called out.

"And this is my friend Eli!" Dakota said, turning to the redhead to her right.

"…Hey," Eli said, waving to the audience, a big contrast from Lukas' introduction.

"Now then, let's get back to the men of the hour!" Dakota said, energy inflating her voice. "IN the red corner, we have the rising star, the freshman challenger, Blake Harker, the Dragon's younger brother!"

Cheers let out from the audience.

"And, IN the blue corner, we have the jerky jerkity jerk-jerk, stupid Akira something-or-other…" Dakota sighed, shaking her head. "Anyways, all of our bets are in, and it looks like the challenger might be in for a rough battle judging by the bets!"

"Shove it in your ear, Dakota!" Akira shouted.

"Let the match begin!" Dakota declared.

"Tara, go!" Blake said, tossing out a pokeball, which his Snivy emerged from.

"Kumari, go!" Akira said, his Beartic emerging. Kumari thumped his chest in anticipation.

"Leaf tornado," Blake ordered. Tara jumped into the air and held her hands up, creating a tornado of leaves from her body that she launched at Kumari.

Kumari opened her mouth and released a blast of icy wind, freezing the leaves solid. He jumped out of the way, the frozen leaves falling to the ground. Kumari lunged at Tara, icy energy coursing through his paw.

As Kumari punched at Tara, she jumped over the powerful paw, her tail glowing with iron energy. She swung her tail and hit Kumari in the jaw, knocking him backwards.

"That's freaking awesome!" Sango said, smiling. "That's what we trained for!"

Kumari jumped back and held his hands up, firing a shard of ice straight at Tara. The ice hit her straight in the chest, knocking her out of the air.

Tara hit the ground and stood up shakily, glaring intensely at Kumari.

"Kumari, ice beam," Akira ordered. Kumari opened his mouth, firing a beam of ice at Tara.

Tara ducked under the ice beam and charged at Kumari. The leaves on her tail shifted into sharpened blades, and she swung it straight at Kumari's feet, knocking him onto his back. She slammed her tail down on the ground, launching her into the air, and swung towards Kumari.

Tara focused energy into her tail again, preparing for another iron tail, swinging it straight at Kumari's chest. However, right before it made contact, the energy dissipated, returning to normal, Tara's tail lightly hitting Kumari on the chest.

"Oh no," Blake said, face palming.

"…Uh, ice punch!" Akira shouted. Kumari jumped to his feet, pulling his arm back, ice energy surging through it. He swung a massive punch nailing Tara in the stomach, sending her flying through the air. Tara crashed to the ground, unconscious.

"Well, amazing!" Dakota said, smiling. "It seems like with a powerful blow like that, it's no surprise that Akira's starting pokemon is his best partner, knocking out Blake's Snivy!"

"Return," Blake said, returning Tara to her pokeball. "Weiss, I need your help!"

Weiss emerged from his pokeball, charging at Kumari.

"Bullet punch!" Blake ordered. Weiss hit Kumari in the jaw, sending him skidding backwards.

"A powerful bullet punch!" Dakota said, smiling. "Amazing!"

"Why are members of the Appeal Course commenting on a pokemon battle?" Someone in the audience shouted.

"Shut up!" Dakota ordered. "Anyways, what do you guys think about this?"

"Very impressive…" Eli said, smiling. "Both of them… This match isn't decided at all…"

"Excellent!" Lukas said, grinning widely. "However, I have to say I'm rooting for Akira."

"Oh? And why is that?" Dakota asked, turning to him.

"Blake has quite a cute girl cheering for him," Lukas said, smiling. "He deserves to lose."

"…Very petty of you," Dakota said.

"Kumari, use brick break," Akira ordered. Kumari raised his paw and slammed it down at Weiss, who raised his pincers, blocking the attack. Weiss disappeared, reappearing behind Kumari, hitting him in the back with another bullet punch. Kumari whirled around and hit Weiss in the chest, knocking him backwards.

Weiss spread his wings and flew into the air, charging at Kumari. His pincer was raised, energy surging through it.

"Ice beam!" Akira ordered. Kumari opened his mouth and fired a beam of ice straight at Weiss, who dodged to the side, avoiding the ice beam, hitting Kumari in the stomach, knocking him over. Weiss flapped his wings, soaring up into the air, and focused energy through his pincers, firing a beam of steel energy at Kumari, hitting him head on, knocking him unconscious.

"Wow, how amazing!" Dakota exclaimed. "Blake's Scizor just knocked out Akira's Beartic! He's so cool! Don't you guys think?"

"Awesome!" Eli said, grinning.

"It was okay," Lukas shrugged.

"Way to go, Blake!" Cynthia cheered.

"Maggy, go," Akira said, tossing out a pokeball, which a Slugma emerged from.

"And Akira's second pokemon is a Slugma!" Dakota declared. "While Slugma does have a type advantage over Scizor, it's not fully evolved. This might not be as easy a battle as type advantage would make it seem!"

"Maggy, use flamethrower!" Akira ordered. The Slugma opened her mouth, firing a stream of flames at Weiss. Weiss flapped his wings, flying above the flames and out of the way.

Maggy opened her mouth, stones of energy forming in front of her. They shot at Weiss, who pulled his pincers back, shattering the rocks with a barrage of bullet punches.

Maggy began glowing with flame energy, releasing a blast of magma across the stadium, hitting Weiss head on, badly injuring him. Weiss plummeted out of the air, crashing to the ground.

Weiss leapt to his feet, badly injured, and charged at Maggy.

Weiss held his pincers up, firing a beam of light energy at Maggy, who was unable to dodge in time, being knocked into the air. Maggy crashed to the ground, scurrying back up, only to be hit by Weiss' bullet punch.

Maggy was launched into the air, Weiss crying out in pain.

"Oh no, it looks like Slugma's Flame Body ability has badly burned Weiss!" Dakota exclaimed. "Maybe Akira can turn it around!"

Maggy opened her mouth and fired a ball of concentrated flames at Weiss, who was too weakened to dodge. The flame sphere hit Weiss in the chest, exploding with a blast of flames, knocking him to his knees.

Maggy landed on the ground, panting, Weiss narrowing his eyes. Weiss shot forwards, pincer raised, hitting Maggy in the stomach, knocking her backwards. Weiss fell to the ground as Maggy fainted, Akira returning her to her pokeball.

"Wow, Blake's Scizor has taken out two of Akira's pokemon now!" Dakota said, impressed.

"Indeed, but his Scizor doesn't seem to be in much better shape," Lukas sighed, shrugging.

Scizor rose to his feet, panting. He was badly burned, glaring at Akira, barely able to stand.

"Harris, go," Akira said, tossing out a pokeball, which a Heracross emerged from.

"And it seems that Akira's final pokemon is a Heracross!" Dakota declared. "Bug vs. bug!"

"Harris, use close combat!" Akira ordered. Harris spread his wings and shot towards Weiss. Harris struck Weiss with his horn repeatedly, Weiss crying out in pain. Harris raised his horn and flung Weiss up into the air. He flew up after him, hitting him repeatedly with a combination of his horn and fists, raised his horn, and slammed it into Weiss' waist, slamming him into the ground.

Weiss stood up, shaking, before falling to his knees, unconscious.

"Return," Blake said, returning Weiss to his pokeball.

"Now, both trainers are down to their last pokemon," Dakota said. "What will Blake's last selection be?"

"Cory, go," Blake said, releasing Cory.

"Cor!" Cory said, clasping his pincers in excitement.

"Interesting decision!" Dakota said. "A Corphish! What do you guys think about that selection?"

"It's very interesting," Lukas said, nodding. "However, I'm not sure if his Corphish will be able to stand up to that Heracross, since it's only a basic pokemon."

"Well, Heracross is a basic as well," Dakota said.

"True, but Heracross is in its final form, while Corphish is not," Lukas explained.

"Eli, what do you think?" Dakota asked, turning to the redhead.

"I'm glad that his Corphish hasn't evolved," Eli said. "It might help him win."

"Oh? Why do you say that?" Dakota asked.

"Corphish evolves into Crawdaunt, a dark type," Eli explained. "That would make it weak to both of Heracross' typings. This way, he'll have a better chance with a pure water."

"I see, that makes sense," Dakota said, nodding.

"…Plus Crawdaunt is scary," Eli said, frowning.

"Harris, use bullet seed!" Akira ordered. Harris opened his mouth, firing a wave of glowing seeds at Cory.

"Cory, bubblebeam."

"Corphish!" Cory said, opening his pincers, firing out a stream of shimmering bubbles that hit the seeds, resulting in a barrage of explosions. Cory's body was then covered in a wave of water, and he shot at Harris at quick speed.

Cory hit Harris in the chest with his pincer, knocking him backwards, but the Heracross was quick to recover, firing another round of bullet seeds at Cory.

Cory jumped out of the way, firing a blast of bubbles at Harris. The bubbles exploded around him, causing the Heracross to cry out in pain.

"Horn attack," Akira ordered.

Harris spread his wings and flew towards Cory, horn raised. He struck Cory low in the body and flipped him into the air, Cory landing on his back.

"Cor!" Cory cried, waving his pincers frantically as he tried to right himself, his legs flailing in the air.

Harris flew up above Corphish, lowering his horn to face him.

"Megahorn."

Energy began charging in Harris' horn, and he shot down towards Cory.

"Crabhammer!" Blake ordered. Blue energy began glowing in his pincer, and he slammed it onto the ground, the force of the impact launching him off of the ground and out of the way of the horn attack. Harris' horn buried into the ground, Harris wrenching it free and turning to Cory.

Cory landed on the ground and immediately fired a bubblebeam at Harris, who countered with a bullet seed.

Harris spread his wings open and flew towards Cory, hitting him head on with his horn, Cory crying out in pain.

Cory landed on the ground, panting.

"Harris, use megahorn again."

"Cory, use aqua jet!"

Energy began drawing into Harris' horn as water swirled around Cory's body. The two pokemon charged at each other.

Harris' horn struck through the veil of water, but Cory grabbed it tightly with his pincer.

Cory narrowed his eyes, and slowly lifted Harris into the air by his horn.

"Corphish!" Cory shouted, slamming Harris onto the ground at full force, Harris crying out in pain. Cory climbed on top of him, pulling his pincer back, focusing it with blue energy again. Cory struck Harris in the chest with another crabhammer, Harris crying out in pain.

Harris quickly shoot Cory off and stood up, flying up into the air. Cory leapt up after him, coating his body in a veil of water as he raised his pincers towards the bug type.

Harris opened his mouth, firing another barrage of bullet seeds, but another bubblebeam erupted from the wave of water, countering the attack.

Cory hit Harris in the stomach at full force and turned towards the ground, raising his pincer into a crabhammer attack through the veil of water, hitting Harris for a critical hit, slamming him into the ground.

Harris cried out in pain. The bug pokemon struggled to get to his feet, only to fall flat on his face unconscious.

"Amazing!" Dakota exclaimed, throwing her arms up into the air. "What a surprising outcome! Blake's Corphish managed to pull off an amazing upset, and defeated Akira!"

* * *

Well, what did you think of that battle? You might be upset that Blake won against a sophomore as he's only a freshman, but remember it was only a three on three. Akira has three other pokemon as trained as those, while Blake only has one more he can really use in a battle. In a full battle, Blake would have lost.


	11. Chapter 10

Now, I wonder what will be the fallout of Blake's battle with Akira?

BloodStarGeneral: Well, don't worry, we'll see more of him.

Sonofthetrigod: Don't worry, we'll see soon enough.

Duskzilla: Sounds good.

Daozang: Absolutely.

Mightymareep98: Who knows when it will come…

Martyn: …Why?

Dragon soul45: Probably likely.

Phantom-Jester: That was all lies by Cynthia to get Blake to headbutt the tree for her.

DeviouslyNormal: Okay, well, Weiss didn't take a flamethrower attack at all. Go back and reread. First, he took a Lava Plume, which was massively damaging, then got burned, and then got hit with ember. Neither of those attacks is as powerful as a flamethrower, and they were the only two hits Weiss took the entire battle, and they were enough to pretty much knock him out. I don't think that's unrealistic at all, given the fact that the Slugma is vastly underleveled compared to the Scizor. Also, I think "menace of the school" is a little much. Akira's an okay trainer, but he's not even the best sophomore at the school. The difference between the two is that while Blake has maybe one or two pokemon that are high leveled, Akira has a full team of six. As I stated before, in a six on six battle (which official tournaments are) Akira WOULD have wiped the floor with Blake. It's the difference between someone who plays the game by training their starter up to a high level while the rest of their team is weak vs. someone who trains up a full team. The full team would win in a legitimate match, but if it was a one on one fight then it wouldn't be as easy. Also, considering I've explained exactly zero of Blake's backstory, I think it's a little early to label him a novice.

My Wunderwaffle iz missin: He is pretty strong, but Maggy is also really low leveled.

Regiinator: No problem.

Yamato Hikari: Not accepting new characters right now.

ShaydeZyro: No, only Slugma, Beartic is weak to Scizor.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 10

* * *

"Okay, does the man of the honor have anything to say?" Cynthia asked, smiling. The sun set on the day as a few hours later, the group was seated in the girl's room, having picked up a few bags of chips and a few large jugs of soda.

"Um, I didn't really need a party…" Blake said, frowning. "I'm already a little uncomfortable about winning that battle…"

"What do you mean?" Nick asked, confused.

"Well, ever since the battle ended, I feel like I've been watched…" Blake said, frowning.

"Well, you are a freshman that defeated a sophomore," Reinar commented. "Pretty solidly, too. I would bet that there are a lot of students interested in you, now…"

"Who knows, maybe you'll get a few love letters pretty soon?" Sango purred, smirking.

"I didn't really want to attract this much attention…" Blake sighed.

All of a sudden, a knock came on the door. Sango hopped up and opened it, seeing Dakota standing in the hallway, smiling.

"Hello, I was wondering if your friend Blake would be interested in an interview?" Dakota asked. "We've got a lot of folks interested in what the victor has to say."

Sango slammed the door in her face.

"It's Dakota."

Dakota knocked on the door again.

The door opened a crack, Sango's hand sticking out holding a cross.

"Back, demon spawn!"

"It's just one interview, guys! That was the whole purpose of it!"

"Go away!" the group collectively shouted.

Sango slammed the door shut.

A little while later, a rattling sound came from the doorknob. Sango walked over and pulled the door open, looking down at Dakota, who was kneeling in front of the doorway, a hairpin in her hand.

"…Hello," Dakota said, flashing her a big smile.

"I'm calling campus security," Julia said, reaching over for the phone. Dakota turned and ran down the hallway, making the "call me" sign while staring at Blake.

"You know, if you don't take her up on the interview, she's probably going to be following you around until you agree," Julia said.

"I definitely will," Dakota said, sticking her head into the doorway.

"Leave," Sango said, slamming the door in her face.

"Come on, Blake, let's keep the party going!" Cynthia cheered, smiling.

"Is that…" Julia asked, staring at the bottle in Cynthia's hands.

"Fruit juice, of course," Cynthia said, winking.

"…Sure it is," Julia said, narrowing her eyes.

Cynthia stared back her, sighing, tucking it under her bed.

"This is my first party with girls," Nick admitted. "What exactly are we supposed to be doing?"

"I was always traveling with my dad, so this is my first party too," Sango said.

"Well, we can watch a movie," Cynthia said, reaching under her bed.

"We're not watching any of your movies," Reiner said, frowning.

"Oh, come on, this one has three brunettes and a-"

"Yeah, watching that stuff in a group like this is just weird," Sango said, frowning.

"And creepy," Blake added.

"Okay, okay, I get it."

"What about truth or dare?" Sango suggested.

"I don't want to play that with Cynthia," everyone else declared in unison, Cynthia fuming at them.

"Oh, hey, we can play Pokemon Battle Festival!" Reiner suggested.

"What's that?" Julia asked, confused.

"It's a video game," Reiner explained. "Basically, we can scan our pokemon into the game and use them to battle each other. That way we can have the fun of a pokemon battle without all the trouble."

"Huh. Sounds like fun."

"No way!" Sango objected, frowning. "If we do that, that means I won't be able to play! I don't have any pokemon that fight!"

"Oh, well, you're able to choose a preselected team," Reiner explained. "To make it more fun, we'll also use the level modifier so all of our pokemon are the same level."

"I'm in," Cynthia said.

"So who's going to battle who?" Blake asked.

"Well, we can have it be random, or we could do some sort of round robin thing," Nick suggested.

After scanning all of their teams into the game, Reiner helped Sango through the process of downloading a pre-loaded team of pokemon.

"Okay, since some of us don't have full parties, we'll do three on three battles," Reiner suggested. "So, first up will be Sango against Cynthia!"

"Sorry about this, Sango," Cynthia said, smiling. "But even if it is a videogame, my team won't go easy on you!"

"Seriously?" Sango sighed. "I don't even know all the moves my guys are capable of…"

After about an hour, everyone had finished playing each other.

"Undefeated!" Sango cheered, holding her fist up in victory.

"How the heck did you do that?" Cynthia demanded. "Hacks! I call hacks!"

"Please, you guys think that you're at my level?" Sango said, cackling in mock-evil laughter. "Come back in another ten years!"

"Wow, I can't believe she beat all of us with a bunch of rental pokemon…" Blake said, surprised.

"True, the simulator isn't a perfect representation of a battle, but Sango did surprisingly well…" Nick said.

"I refuse to accept this outcome! Battle me again!"

"Foolish girl, no matter how many times, it will make no difference!"

They played games throughout the night. The next morning, Blake woke up sore from sleeping on the floor of the girls' room. He sat up, yawning, and looked around the room. Sango was gone while Cynthia was sprawled on the floor drooling into a pillow. Julia, on the other hand, was asleep in her bed. Reiner and Nick were also asleep on the floor, Blake having to step over them to get back to his room. After changing into some normal clothes, he headed outside, maybe to go get some breakfast.

As he was walking down the path to Snorlax Commons, a familiar voice called out to him.

"Hey, Blake!"

Blake turned to see Sango jog up to him, smiling, her face flushed with sweat. Blake glanced at her clothes sticking to her body and made a mental fist pump.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Just going for a morning jog," Sango said, grinning. "Gotta stay in shape, cause people tend to overeat when they're in a new place."

Blake recalled several of Sango's previous "meals" and worried what was considered "overeating" to her.

"Speaking of eating, I was gonna head to Snorlax Commons to get some food, wanna come?"

"Let me check how much time I've got left…" Sango was still jogging in place while they were talking, and checked her watch. "Okay, yeah, I'll only miss a few minutes. It's better to eat right after a big workout anyway!"

The two headed into the lunch hall, and once again ate outside. While Blake got several items that could be considered typical of a normal breakfast, Sango got… well…

Sango's plate consisted of dual towering mountains of ham and eggs, as well as three cups of yogurt and a bagel.

"Are you seriously gonna eat all that?" Blake asked, his plate looking empty compared to Sango's plate, which could have probably sustained a third world country.

"Of course!" Sango said, smiling. "A balanced breakfast is the key to maintaining a good daily workout schedule, silly!"

"Well if by balanced you mean it's the same size as you are, I guess, but where do you put it all?"

"?"

"Well, I mean, you're so skinny, and yet you can eat so much."

"Well, you really know what a girl likes to hear, don't you?" Sango snarked. "This is nothing, I burn a ton of calories with my high energy training. I just finished off a two hour run, after all, and I'll probably go for a bike ride after I've let my food settle."

Blake almost coughed up his orange juice at "two hour run" much to Sango's amusement.

"I might do some running myself, but that's just insane," Blake said, shaking his head.

"Please, this is all necessary to become a Top Ranger," Sango said.

"Top Ranger?" Blake asked.

"Well, yeah. I don't like battles. Becoming a Ranger is what I want to do most of all, and then be a Top Ranger!"

"Wow, I'm impressed that you're so dedicated."

"Well, Rangers are so cool. They get to travel to all sorts of exotic places and meet new people and new species of pokemon. Not only that, but they're on the front line of the battle to preserve the environments that pokemon live in."

"That's pretty noble," Blake said, impressed.

"Yeah, but what's really great about it is the travel!" Sango said, her eyes brightening. "See, I love going to all sorts of new places, seeing the sights, you know, all that stuff."

"…That's less noble."

"Well, see, my dad…" Sango looked down at her food, frowning. "…Never mind."

Her face rose and her expression brightened.

"We should race."

"…What?"

"You and me, we should race! See which one of us is faster! You said you run, right?"

"Well, yeah, but…"

"Come on, do you really think that it's okay for you to train your pokemon but not yourself?" Sango demanded. "You've gotta stay in shape, Blake!"

"Well, of course…"

"Give me one good reason why we shouldn't race!" Sango said, leaning in to stare intensely at him, so much so that Blake could smell the sweat on her clothes.

"…We're eating. It's bad to run after eating."

"…Oh. Right…"

"So why don't you like battling? You seem really good at it, judging from last night."

"I don't want Silver to get hurt…" Sango said, patting her Castform on the head. "See, I like pokemon and like helping them, but I don't like seeing them get hurt…"

"I understand," Blake said, nodding.

"Still, I should be honest with you, I don't mind watching you battle," Sango said, smiling. "Your battle yesterday was pretty exciting."

A flash of light appeared from the side, Sango and Blake whirled around to see Dakota standing beside their table with her camera.

"Dakota!" Blake said, frowning.

"So, after an exciting victory, it seems that Blake is going on a romantic date with another young lady in the freshman class," Dakota said, writing something down on her pad.

"Date?" Blake asked, frowning.

"What about this is romantic?" Sango asked.

"Give me that camera!" Blake said, reaching for the camera, Dakota moving out of the way.

"Well, I need a major story for my article!" Dakota said, frowning. "I need you to give me an interview! Give me an interview or I'll keep following you, got it?"

"Seriously?" Blake asked, Dakota nodding eagerly.

"…Fine."

"Excellent!" Dakota said, sitting down next to them, her eyes gleaming. She held up a voice recorder to Blake, her other hand holding a pencil on a notepad.

Blake leaned back, opening his eyes a little in surprise.

"Okay, Blake, how did you feel immediately after winning your battle with Akira?"

"Um… I was really excited that I won, and I was kind of shocked after it."

"Cool! What about when you first began the fight? Did you expect to do as well as you did?"

"Um, actually, not really. I kind of thought I was going to lose at first."

"What sort of training did you do in preparation for your battle, as well as what kind of training will you be doing for your future battles?"

"Well, I tried to teach my Snivy how to use iron tail, but unfortunately she couldn't figure out how to use it successfully in time. In the future, I'll have to try and get her to master how to use it successfully."

"Hm, indeed, that iron tail would have been quite an impressive blow if it connected."

"Yes, but apparently my training wasn't enough," Blake said, glancing at Sango.

"Hey, that wasn't my fault. Tara must have had cold feet during the fight."

"I see," Dakota said, nodding. She turned back to Blake.

"How did your friends feel about your battle?" Dakota asked. Blake turned to Sango, who looked away nervously.

"They couldn't have been more supportive," Blake said sarcastically, Sango whistling innocently.

"Now, how did your girlfriend react to your victory?" Dakota asked, turning to Sango.

"No," Sango snorted, bursting out laughing. "Oh no, no way, no, no, ha-ha, no, no, no."

"Wow. That's awkward. She gave you eight nos. How does that feel?"

"Can't say it feels good," Blake said, smiling at Sango.

"On another note, if I recall, you had a cute young red-haired cheerleader rooting for you in the match, didn't you? Tell me some stuff about her."

"What does that have to do with the match?"

"Answer the question."

"This doesn't seem relevant."

"It's all part of the story," Dakota said, smiling. "When the girls read this story, they'll want to see some sort of romance, it's all to sell the issue."

"…Yeah, but there's no romance."

"…Really?" Dakota asked, disappointed.

She turned to Sango.

"Really?"

"Really. They are just friends."

"I've known her for a week," Blake continued.

"God, you're so BORING!" Dakota complained. "No one reads the school paper just to see some recapping of an event that they already saw! Where's the drama? Where's the scandal? Where's the fight between Blake and Akira over a cute girl? That's what sells papers!"

"I… don't think it should be that way," Sango said, frowning.

"What are you, TMZ?" Blake asked.

"Well, fine then. Tell me about your pokemon partners, especially the three you used."

"Well, Weiss, my Scizor, has been with me for a long time. He's really strong, and my best fighter."

"Yeah, he was really strong," Dakota said, nodding. "I had no idea that he would be able to defeat a fire type."

"I know, I was surprised, too," Blake said, nodding. "Unfortunately, even after being healed, he's not ready for battling."

"You already told me about your Snivy, what about your Corphish?" Dakota asked. "It seems like he's the star of the hour."

"Yeah, Cory is pretty tough," Blake said, laughing. "He likes fighting a lot, and it's kind of hard to keep him under control. Still, he's a lot of fun."

"Yeah, everyone was surprised he'd managed to defeat that Heracross," Dakota said, nodding. "What about your other pokemon, the ones you didn't use in your battle?"

"Well, two of my pokemon aren't really suited for fighting," Blake explained. "One of them is too weak right now, and the other doesn't really listen to me."

"And the last one?"

"Rogen, my Boldore," Blake said. "He was actually my first pokemon."

"Really? Not your Snivy?" Dakota asked.

"No, I got Tara later."

"Interesting," Dakota said, nodding. "And is it true that after winning you and Cynthia Fafnir were caught making out in stadium closet?"

"…No, we weren't," Blake said, narrowing his eyes.

"Blake confirms that the stadium closet was not where he was making out with Cynthia Fafnir."

"That's not what I said!" Blake said, frowning.

"Nevermind, he WAS in fact making out with her in the closet."

"Cynthia and I never kissed!"

"Apparently, Blake was caught making out with an unnamed party instead of the assumed individual."

"This is insane," Sango said, laughing.

"You can't just make stuff like this up!" Blake said, frowning.

"Hey, I resent that!" Dakota said, frowning. "I'm a respectable journalist, I don't make up anything! This came from a legitimate source!"

"Who?"

"…I'm not at liberty to reveal that."

"Who was it?" Blake demanded.

"Why don't we change the subject?" Dakota asked, smiling.

"Who was the source?" Blake asked.

"Blake, what do you have to say about this picture of you sneaking out of a girl's room this morning?" Dakota asked, holding up a small photo.

Blake's expression went pale.

"How did you develop that so fast?" Sango asked, confused.

"Well, if it's not Cynthia, it certainly looks like you're having a very… interesting relationship with another girl, doesn't it?" Dakota asked, smiling.

"Wait, Dakota…"

"I bet you can't WAIT for the story to come out," Dakota said, smiling cheerfully. "It's SURE to be an amazing seller."

Dakota skipped off, a smile on her face, leaving Blake sitting there as white as a sheet.

* * *

Poor Blake.


	12. Chapter 11

In this chapter we'll see exactly how the report went over with the other students.

The Bloody Seje: Gotta love girls who can be petty.

Sonofthetrigod: Well, we'll see if she gets her karma.

Mightymareep98: Well, more or less.

Daozang: Well, can you think of any problems with playing truth or dare with Cynthia?

Martyn: …Sorry, it's too weird.

Duskzilla: Well, she might have… who knows…

Phantom-Jester: Well, she has some redeeming traits, as we'll see eventually.

Regiinator: What type of character is that?

BloodStarGeneral: Really? I'm surprised you think that they're a good match.

Darkmoonrise312: That should have been apparent from the character profile.

DeviouslyNormal: That's just how awesome Sango is.

Darkhammer: I don't know, they seem okay.

Dragon soul45: Well, Dakota always watches.

ShaydeZyro: Dakota is more like a cockroach. Annoying and hard to kill.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 11

* * *

"I can't believe this…" Blake shook his head as he and Sango headed back towards the dorm.

"I had no idea that reporter girl would have that much information on you," Sango said, surprised. "Although, now that I think about it, I think I have a pretty good idea who her source might be…"

"Who?" Blake asked, confused.

"You lied to that reporter, Dakota, didn't you?" Sango demanded.

"…No…" Cynthia said, looking away, the guilt apparent on her face. Sango, having realized where the information had come from, rushed back to her room with Blake in tow to confront Cynthia.

"It's obvious that it was you," Sango said, frowning.

"Look, Dakota said she would pay me if I told her something interesting and juicy about Blake to help sell her story," Cynthia said, frowning, "so I told her we were in a relationship. What's the problem?"

"Listen, Cynthia, Blake doesn't want Dakota to go around spreading rumors and lies about the two of you being in a relationship. Can't you see how big of an inconvenience this is for him?"

"Well, I guess…"

"I can't believe you would betray your friend for money. I'm so disappointed in you."

"I didn't do it for money!" Cynthia said, irritated.

"Huh? I thought you said she paid you," Sango said, confused.

"Not in money," Cynthia said, shaking her head. "With this."

Cynthia reached into her desk and withdrew a binder, opening it. Filling the pages were pictures of Serefina in various outfits, including a few in bathing suits.

"…" Sango and Blake stared at her, disappointed but not surprised.

"…L-listen, guys, I'm sorry…" Cynthia said, looking down, frowning. "I was weak…"

"Yeah, you were," Sango said, nodding. "But that's okay. You can make it right."

"H-how?" Cynthia asked weakly.

"We're going to go find Serefina." Sango grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her along.

The three of them headed out to Floette Fields, where Serefina supposedly worked every afternoon. Thankfully, she was in fact working there.

"Hey, Serefina!" Sango called out, the black haired girl turning towards them, buckets of pokemon food in her hands.

"Oh, Sango, Blake, are you guys here to volunteer?" Serefina asked.

"Not right now, sorry," Sango said, shaking her head. "We're here because of your roommate, Dakota."

"…What did she do?" Serefina sighed, placing the buckets on the ground to rub her temples.

"Well, Dakota is planning on publishing a fake story about a relationship between these two, and we're trying to get her to stop."

"Oh boy…" Serefina said, shaking her head. "Listen, if Dakota is planning on publishing something, all you can do is brace for the impact and then get out of the way and let the dust settle. Once she's got the scent, she won't back off until she's gotten her story."

"There, see? It was good what I did, if she kept digging she might have found something real, right?" Cynthia asked, Sango elbowing her in the stomach.

"But it's not a real story. It's all a bunch of lies," Sango explained.

"Yeah, I wish I could say that would make a difference. Half of what she prints are exaggerations or lies anyway."

"So I'm screwed?" Blake asked.

"Yes. Yes you are."

The next day, Blake's nightmare came to pass. As he headed out to class, he noticed several students were reading the paper, and glanced at him as he walked by. Several of the girls also giggled.

He swallowed his pride and walked over to the news machine, sliding his card through the slot and being rewarded with a paper. He flipped it open, looking through it until he found the article.

An inside scoop! Information about the champion!

What was the secret to Blake Harker's surprising victory over Akira Gallain? This reporter has discovered an interesting fact! In his match with Akira, Blake Harker received support from several other freshmen, especially from a certain pretty young cheerleader named Cynthia Fafnir! Sources reveal that this freshman girl is in fact in a torrid love affair with young Blake, and confirmed that the two of them were in fact making out in one of the closets in Eon Stadium! This reporter is moved by such an action, showing the with the support of someone who loves you, even a freshman can defeat a sophomore!

There was more, as well as pictures of the two of them, but Blake stopped reading and tossed the paper in the trash can as he walked to his Myths and Legends class.

Reiner greeted him with a smirk.

"So, you and Cynthia, huh? Didn't see that coming."

"It's all a bunch of lies."

"I figured as much. Considering we were with you the entire time after the match."

"Then why did you even say anything?"

"Because it's REALLY funny."

Thankfully, no one bugged him about it for the rest of the class, though he caught Nikita and Reiner staring at him a few times.

Even so, the next class, Pokemon Caretaking, wasn't much better. As the class was almost always outside, as soon as they moved out to the empty fields behind Kangaskhan Hall a swarm of people were already asking him about his supposed "romance".

"It's all a big lie."

That was Sango, coming to Blake's defense.

"Alright class, today we'll be learning about taking care of Grass Type Pokemon!" Leanne clapped her hands together, everyone turning to her. "Now, when everyone thinks about grass types, they think about how almost every grass type pokemon resemble plants or have plants growing out of their bodies. This is actually a key factor in their care."

Serefina walked up, leading an assortment of basic grass pokemon, consisting mainly of Oddish, Budew, Sunkern, Bellsprout, and Hoppip.

"Grass Pokemon are an intriguing thing," Leanne continued. "Despite being some of the easiest pokemon to care for, they also take a longer time to grow then many other pokemon. The reason for this is due to the fact that many grass types gather their main source of nutrients from the sunlight, as opposed to other sources. For this reason, grass types are the most common starter type among new trainers who likely cannot afford higher quality pokemon food. Many grass type pokemon are capable of going for days without eating, subsisting entirely on energy from the sunlight. However, it is not recommended that such a practice be the norm. While a majority of their energy CAN be absorbed out of the sun, there are still several nutrients that they need to ingest. Unfortunately, many trainers fail to notice this, and while grass type pokemon might only need sunlight to survive, grass types that feed only on sunlight are vastly weaker than members of their species at the same level who consume other foods as well."

After concluding her lecture, Leanne clapped her hands again.

"Now, for class today, I would like each of you to choose one of these grass type pokemon and spend the period studying it. This is fundamental for raising a pokemon, as it lets you study the habits your pokemon have. Jot down anything you observe about your pokemon's habits and actions, and turn in those notes for review at the end of the day."

Everyone went to pick one of the pokemon, Blake settling on a Sunkern since it was a pure grass type like his Snivy.

Sango picked a Hoppip, while Julia and Kitty both chose Oddish. People continued to go up to Blake to ask him questions (causing him to seriously wonder why they were that interested in his social life anyway).

"Why exactly do people care so much about this stupid thing?" Blake asked, frowning.

"Well, what you did was pretty impressive," Sango said. "Not so much the fact that you won, but more like because you won in front of such a large crowd in such a big event. Don't worry, I'm sure the hype will die down soon."

"Okay, good," Blake said, nodding.

"On the other hand, if I beat you, would that make me more popular?" Julia mused, smirking at him.

"Oh, look!" Everyone turned to Kitty, who was pointing at her Oddish. It was currently trying to dig a hole in the ground, using only its feet. Julia's Oddish, on the other hand, was much more lazy, sitting down and letting the sunlight wash over it. Kitty was furiously scribbling down notes, Julia

"Hey, Silver, I just had an idea!" Sango said, looking down at the Castform on her lap.

"Cast?"

"Well, grass types like sunlight, right? So use sunny day!"

Silver's expression brightened and he floated up into the air, glowing with orange energy. The energy shot up into the air, and the sunlight grew more intense, the temperature rising a up to the point where they started sweating.

Silver, meanwhile, began to shift. His torso became a light white billowing sheet, and his head turned a bright orange and red. Spheres grew out from his head, to make him resemble a small sun.

"Wow, what was that?" Kitty asked, her eyes widening.

"It's Silver's ability," Sango said, smiling proudly. "Castform are capable of transforming into one of three different forms depending on the weather. This is his Sunlight Form. He's also transformed into a fire type now."

Blake was surprised. Before, his Sunkern had just been relaxing calmly, but now it was bouncing around haphazardly and shaking.

"Interesting…" Blake said, scratching down on paper the reactions that the Sunkern was making.

"Look at my Hoppip!" Sango said, excited. The grass/flying pokemon was jumping around in the air, a bright smile on its face, dancing around the Castform.

"It must have the ability Chlorophyll," Julia said. "My Oddish has it too. It doubles the speed of a pokemon in strong sunlight."

"Cool," Sango said, writing down the information. "Ability… chlorophyll…"

"My Sunkern looks like it's having a seizure," Blake said.

"Its ability must be Solar Power."

Blake turned to see Serefina looking over his shoulder.

"Solar Power raises Sunkern's special attack in heavy sunlight, but it also causes damage after a while," Serefina explained.

"Oh, that's too bad…" Blake said, frowning.

"Okay, Silver, cut it off," Sango said, frowning. Silver nodded, the sunlight dying down, reverting to her normal form.

"So, what have you guys found out so far?" Serefina asked.

Kitty looked down, completely silent, while Sango was abuzz.

"Oh, man, my Hoppip is so much fun! See, when the sunlight turned on, she was bouncing all over the place and full of energy! So cool!"

"Nice," Serefina said, nodding. "Katherine, what about you?"

Kitty remained silent. She was entranced by something on her feet, looking down at the ground like her life depended on it.

"Well, both our Oddish react in different ways," Julia said. "See, hers dug underground, while mine was just lying on the ground. But when the sun came out, it began running around like it was filled with energy."

"Excellent!" Serefina said, clapping her hands. "Keep on going! Try and find out as much as you can!"

Serefina skipped off, her chest bouncing.

"So, what's with that?" Sango asked, turning to Kitty. "Shy, huh?"

Kitty nodded.

"…We… don't get along…"

"Why not?" Julia asked.

"Her boobs are too big…" Kitty said.

 _Oh, that makes sense…_ The three of them thought collectively.

The four of them continued observing their grass types, when Julia noticed something.

"Who's that?" Julia asked, noticing a girl hiding behind a tree a few feet away from them.

"I noticed her before…" Kitty said, frowning. "But I didn't say anything…"

"Urg…" the girl realized they'd noticed her, and stepped out from behind the tree. She had messy brown hair and green eyes, and looked embarrassed.

"What is it?" Juliana asked.

"Um, here…" the girl said, handing Blake an envelope. She ran off, all eyes turning to Blake.

"Ooh…" Sango teased. "Is it a love letter?"

"Maybe she saw your battle against Akira and wanted to confess!" Juliana said.

"Guys, don't be stupid," Blake said, shaking his head. He opened the envelope and took out the letter within it, scented with the fragrance of some flower.

The letter was neatly written in cursive, Blake finding it hard to read.

"Um... let me see…" Blake squinted, trying to remember what the symbols meant.

"'Blake Harker, I am writing you this letter to issue you a request. Please do me the great honor of a battle with you. If you wish to accept my request, please meet me tonight at Roselia Gardens at 8:00. I will be anticipating your reply. Cordialement, Alcea Vermeil.'"

"That's the weirdest love letter I've ever seen," Julia said, frowning.

"It's not a love letter, it's an invitation to battle," Blake said.

"So, someone's intrigued after seeing your battle, huh?" Sango asked. "Maybe it IS a love letter."

"Well, we'll just have to see," Blake said.

That night, Blake was heading out of his room, but Reiner grabbed his arm.

"So, Blake, going to make out with Cynthia for a little?" Reiner asked, smirking.

"Seriously, guys?"

"Fine, tell me, what are you really doing?"

Blake sighed, and handed Reiner the note. He and Nick looked it over, before turning back to Blake.

"Whoa, a challenge for a battle?" Reiner asked.

"That's so cool…" Nick said, surprised.

"Okay, we're coming with you!" Reiner said.

"What? Why?"

"Dude, this'll be cool! No way do we want to miss it!"

"Fine, whatever…" Blake said, shaking his head.

He headed out, Sango and Julia meeting up with him. And Cynthia was with them.

"So everyone's coming, huh?" Blake asked, eyeing Cynthia wearily.

"Come on, what's wrong?" Cynthia asked, smiling.

"Never mind…" Blake said, shaking his head.

"Kitty wanted to come too, so let's stop off and pick her up, 'kay?" Julia asked. "She's in Charmander House."

"Good, that's on the way," Sango said, opening up the map. The group of six headed out, stopping outside of Charmander House for Kitty to meet up with them. They headed into the rose garden near the House, everyone marveling at the beauty of it.

"Wow…" There were large plots of earth with different varieties of flowers planted in them, forming rows leading up to a center plaza. The entirety of the garden was sewn with grass, and the walls of the garden were made up of large rose covered hedges. There were even several large berry trees growing in the garden, and the entire place was illuminated by streetlights.

Blake noticed the girl who had given the note was standing in front of him.

"So, about this battle…"

The girl snorted, shaking her head.

"I'm not the one you'll fight. Our Queen is this way."

The girl turned and walked down the main path towards the clearing, the group following after her. Standing in the center of the clearing was a group of around 20-30 girls, staring at them.

"Anyone else feeling really uncomfortable?" Reiner asked.

"…" Nick didn't say anything, but remained silent. Kitty moved behind Julia.

"Your highness, why did you want to fight a foolish man like him?" the brown haired girl demanded, walking over to the crowd.

"Ne vous inquietez pas, Kate." A soft voice could be heard from behind the crowd of girls. One girl walked forth from within the pack, a warm smile on her face. The girl had rose colored hair that reached down to her shoulders in the back, but two long fringes reached down past her chest on either side, framing her pale face. She had light green eyes that were flickering in the lamp light, and, to Blake's surprise, seemed to be wearing a modified uniform. Instead of the standard uniform of a red skirt and grey vest, she was instead wearing a red coat similar to those worn by the boys, covering a white shirt and a red tie. Her clothes were tight and clung to her frame, and her red skirt was much longer than those of the other girls, reaching down to her knees, and covered black tights. Pinned to the sleeve of her coat was a red armband, signifying that she was both majoring in battles, and at the very least was a junior.

"Bonjour, Blake Harker," the girl said, smiling. "Mon nom est Alcea Vermeil."

"You're from Kalos?" Blake asked, surprised.

"Oui. Mais, I can speak in English if you wish."

"Yeah, that would be better."

"It is a pleasure to meet you." The girl grabbed the hem of her skirt, lifting it as she knelt, curtsying as though accepting a dance. "If you please, would you do me the honor of a battle?"

* * *

So, we'll see how Blake manages to do against a junior.


	13. Chapter 12

Now, time for the battle between Blake and Alcea!

Aeromenca: I answer reviews in order of getting them.

Sonofthetrigod: She didn't think she was doing anything wrong.

The Bloody Seje: Yep, she's pretty petty.

Duskzilla: Why? If she's got it, she should flaunt it, that's what I say. Also, you shouldn't be reading this. My stories are too immature for someone 18 years or older.

Mightymareep98: Good.

ShadeZyro: She doesn't know.

DeviouslyNormal: Well, Alcea is a grass type trainer, so that's pretty good. What kind of ploy are you thinking?

Daozang: I figured she would.

My Wunderwaffle iz missin: Oh, definitely.

Regiinator: Yes, this battle should be very interesting.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 12

* * *

"It's not fair!" the brown haired girl from before exclaimed.

"Huh?" Blake asked.

"Our Highness shouldn't have to waste her time dealing with someone like you!" the girl, Kate, cried.

"Highness?" Cynthia asked, confused.

"Our Highness, the Queen of Roses!" Kate declared. "A lady of beauty, grace, and a refined elegance!"

"Kate that is enough," Alcea said, turning to her.

"No, she's right!" another girl said.

"What's so impressive about her anyway?" Cynthia asked.

"Shut up!"

"You're just copying her Highness with your stupid red hair!"

"She's right, there's a lot of redheads in this school…" Julia said, frowning.

"Her Highness is amazing!"

"She's done so many great things!"

"When a storm was coming she ran out into the rain to hang tarps over the garden!"

"And when it was pouring out, she gave me her umbrella to use, not minding that she got soaked!"

"She always gives me advice on how to train and raise my pokemon!"

"She can be really strict, but she always makes sure to help her underclassmen when they're falling behind!"

"She always lets us read her romance novels and is always excited to talk about them with us!"

"She helped me out with my love life even though the amount of time she's been single is equal to the number of years she's been on this earth!"

"She-"

"Ahem, that's enough," Alcea coughed, her face reddening. "Please, let us continue with our battle."

"So, how many pokemon are we each using?" Blake asked.

"…Very brave, yes?" Alcea asked, walking towards the center of the clearing, where a battlefield was set up in the grass.

"What do you mean?" Blake asked.

"You only have six pokemon. One of them is too weak to fight right now, another you cannot control. That leaves four. We shall use one pokemon each."

"One?" Blake asked.

"Of your party, only one of them is strong enough to stand up to any of mine," Alcea said. "I will not dishonor you or look down upon you with a statement such as 'use your entire party, I will only use a single pokemon.'"

"Oh?" Blake asked.

"Do you think I am so arrogant?" Alcea asked, smiling. "Or so foolish? We shall use one pokemon each. No more, no less. If I were to use my entire party against your entire party, that would not make for much of a competition. This way, mon cher, I can see how strong you truly are."

"…Okay, one pokemon each," Blake said, nodding. He walked onto the other side of the battlefield.

"Then, commencons."

Alcea held up a pokeball, tossing it into the air.

"Venus, laissez-nous danser!"

The pokeball opened in a flash of light, a Venusaur emerging from within with a tornado of red and black flower petals.

The large plant pokemon stomped its feet, the petals drifting around it and disappearing in a flash of light.

"What was that?" Blake asked.

"A ball capsule and seal, is it?" Alcea declared. "Developed in the Sinnoh Region, a tool for improving the beauty and grace of a pokemon in battle."

"What kind of thing would that be for?" Cynthia asked, confused.

"I believe that pokemon battles, like everything in life, should be both beautiful and graceful. Just as a flower blooms beautifully within a garden, my grass pokemon are the same, blooming beautifully on the field of battle."

"A grass pokemon user, huh?" Blake said. "Weiss!"

Weiss emerged, snapping his pincers.

"Oh yeah, Blake's got this one in the bag!" Reiner cheered.

"Magnifique," Alcea said, smiling warmly. "Blake, truly you are like a flower."

"Enough flirting!" Cynthia jeered.

"When I first saw your battle against that sophomore… It disgusted me."

"Um… what?"

"You are not weak. But you are not strong, either. You are simply… average. A bud in the dirt, trying desperately to grow. But your battle, it was utterly lacking in elegance and beauty. While you might have talent, you let that talent go to waste."

"Hey, he is so talented!" Cynthia stated.

"If you cannot refine yourself and your pokemon, then you will stand no chance," Alcea ignored Cynthia, continuing her statements. "And that would make me weep, for I always feel pity when a bud withers and dies before it can bloom. That is why I requested a fight with you. Please show me if you can refine your style."

Her words tone was polite, and her words were neither insulting nor rude, but they still stung. Thankfully, Blake was able to keep a cool head. If he got angry there was no chance. He could see that that Venusaur was at a level well above his Scizor, and had fought many more battles. If he wasn't able to keep a cool head and think things through, then even Weiss's type advantage might not be enough.

"No action, is it? Then the first move is mine. Venus, use razor leaf."

Leaves shot out from the plant on Venus' back, shooting straight at Weiss. They were faster than Weiss had expected and he was unable to dodge, but they only did a fraction of damage.

"Grass type moves don't do much against Scizor's double resistance!" Sango cheered. "Give it to 'em!"

"Weiss, bullet punch!" Weiss shot forward like bullet, releasing a flurry of punches at the Venusaur.

Suddenly, however, Weiss was stopped. A vine had shot out from the plant on Venus' back, wrapping tightly around his arm, stopping him cold.

"A move of that caliber is no problem for my Venus," Alcea said. "If you wish to settle this with speed, at use a move with comparable speed to an ice shard from Gabrielle's Weavile."

"Huh?" Blake asked.

"My dear Gabrielle," Alcea said. "The term rival, is it? She who has mastered the ice type and I who use the grass type. Even with such a weakness, I can still defeat her."

Everyone who had fought against Gabrielle the week previously froze in fear a little. If she could be beaten by this girl, then could Blake even hope to win?

"So do you think he has no chance?" Nick asked.

"No, Scizor has a great advantage over Venusaur, he'll totally win!" Cynthia said adamantly.

"Maybe so…" Reiner said, frowning. "But steel moves are not that effective against grass/poison, either… Neither one of them has the upper hand in type advantage… what we're likely to see is a long, drawn out battle of the two of them chipping away at each other."

"Yeah, but in that situation, Scizor has the advantage!" Cynthia said.

"It seems that way…"

"Venus, fling him onto the ground, if you would."

Venus lifted Weiss into the air with her vine, slamming him roughly down onto the ground. In this moment, however, Weiss fired a flash cannon from his pincer straight at Venus, hitting her in the forehead and forcing her to break the hold. Weiss flapped his wings and flew back away from Venus.

"Oh, a battle at a distance, is it?" Alcea asked. "We can do that as well. Venus, use sunny day."

Venus' body was covered in an orange light, which shot up into the air and intensified the light from the moon.

"Such moves are sadly more effective in the day, but oh well," Alcea said. "Solarbeam."

Venus charged light energy into her flower, firing it in a beam of light at Weiss.

Weiss just barely managed to dodge the attack, but Venus turned and swung it into him, Weiss crying out in pain as he plummeted to the ground. In spite of that, however, the attack didn't do much damage, to Blake's relief.

 _If we get to close it'll grab Weiss with vines, but if we stay away it'll hit him with a beam…_ Blake thought, frowning. _Is getting damage in impossible?_

"Giving up, is it?" Alcea asked.

"Of course not!" Blake said. "Weiss, fly into the air!"

Weiss flapped his wings and flew into the air, diving down towards the Venusaur.

"Solarbeam once more," Alcea ordered. Venus fired another beam of light at Weiss, but this time he didn't try to dodge it.

"Steel wing!" Blake ordered. Weiss' body was coated in a silver aura and he slammed head first into the solar beam, causing it to shatter and fly into random directions as the steel type pummeled through it. Weiss slammed into Venus head on, Venus crying out in pain as Weiss jumped back into the air to do the same maneuver again, just barely dodging the vines reaching for him.

 _Weiss did take damage with that attack, but I think the Venusaur took more…_ Blake thought. _If I continue attacking like that, then maybe…_

"'Maybe I can win, is it?'" Alcea said.

"Huh?"

"Is that something along the lines of what you were thinking? If you continue to do something like that you'll be able to win through attrition?"

She smiled.

"Don't be so foolish. Venus, use synthesis!"

Light shone down on Venus' body, restoring a lot of her health. Soon, she was almost at full.

"No way…" Blake said, shocked.

"Grass types absorb energy from the sun to remain strong and healthy," Alcea said. "Surely you've learned this by now?"

"…Weiss, use iron defense!" Silver energy flowed around Weiss' body, reinforcing his defenses.

"Now, agility, followed by swords dance!"

"So, while I'm healing you hope to boost your defenses, as well as your speed and power? Impressive."

"Weiss, let's try and focus this into a single strike, okay, Weiss?" Blake asked, Weiss nodding his head. The Scizor shot forward at an even higher speed than before, to the point where he almost couldn't be seen. Weiss was nothing more than a red blur as he shot towards Venus.

"A powerful blow…" Alcea said, frowning. "…Provided it connects."

A barrier of green light appeared around Venus, blocking the attack completely.

"Protect," Alcea declared. "That move was absolutely ineffective."

"Boo! What a cheap move!" Cynthia exclaimed.

"Then, if you're done, solarbeam."

Venus fired another solarbeam attack, hitting Weiss in the stomach. It did a little bit more damage, knocking him backwards, but Weiss still hadn't taken much.

"Come on, Blake, break that stupid protect!" Sango shouted.

"I cannot use protect repeatedly, unfortunately. Give it your best."

Weiss shot forward again, Blake expecting Venus to dodge, but the attack struck beneath her jaw at full force, knocking her into the air. Weiss appeared above the Venusaur and struck her again, knocking her into the ground.

Venus quickly rose to her feet and began healing, Weiss jumping backwards.

"Okay, Weiss, I have an idea," Blake said, grinning. "We haven't perfected it yet, but try it out, okay?"

Weiss nodded, and shot towards Venus once more, moving around so he was at her side, before shooting forwards.

"Protect."

A green barrier appeared around Venus, Weiss lifting his claw and striking.

The barrier shattered, Alcea's eyes widening as the pincer hit Venus in the side, badly injuring her.

"What was that?" Cynthia exclaimed.

"Feint, is it?" Alcea asked, smiling. "Magnifique."

"Awesome!" Blake cheered. "You got it! Way to go!"

Weiss jumped back, before the counterattack could come at him. Weiss charged at Venus, using bullet punch this time.

"Well, it looks like I'll have to start taking this seriously," Alcea said, smiling. Weiss threw a bright red flashing punch at Venus, who disappeared.

"What?" Blake asked, shocked. A beam of light hit Weiss in the back, Weiss crying out in pain, falling to the ground. Venus had appeared across the battlefield, behind Weiss.

"How did you…"

"No way something that big could be so fast, cheater!" Cynthia shouted.

"No, it's…" Julia said, frowning.

"Chlorophyll, is it?" Alcea said, her lips curling up into a smile. "Have you heard of it?"

"That's the thing that raises a pokemon's speed in the sunlight…" Blake said, frowning.

"Yes," Alcea said, nodding. "Slightly weaker at night, but it still lets my Venus outspeed your Scizor."

"Fine then," Blake said, frowning. "Weiss, use agility!"

Energy moved around Weiss as his speed began to increase. However, Venus shot towards him like a bullet, tackling Weiss head on and knocking him backwards.

"Now, for my hidden weapon," Alcea declared, Weiss rising to his feet and charging at Venus. "Use it."

Venus' body began glowing with orange energy, releasing it into a shockwave of orange orbs of flame. The orbs struck Weiss, badly injuring him. Weiss cried out in pain, collapsing to the ground.

"Was that a fire move?" Blake asked, shocked.

"Hidden power, is it?" Alcea said. "Fire type."

"A fire type hidden power…" Cynthia said, shocked.

"What a trump card…" Julia said.

Weiss coughed, trying to rise to his feet.

"And finally, the coup de grace," Alcea declared, holding her hand out. "Venus, use frenzy plant!"

Venus' body began glowing with green energy, which surged into the ground with a stomp of her front feet. Thorny roots jutted out from it, striking Weiss roughly and squeezing around his body, wrapping tightly and squeezing until Weiss lost crumpled. The thorny roots retreated into the ground, Weiss plummeting to the ground, unconscious.

"Fin," Alcea said, returning Venus to her pokeball.

"…Return…" Blake said, returning Weiss to his pokeball.

"Blake…" Sango said, frowning.

Alcea walked up to him.

"It was enjoyable."

"Huh?"

"The battle," Alcea said, smiling a little. "It was enjoyable."

"Really?"

"You might have lost, but you've shown great potential. I am looking forward to seeing your growth."

"Huh?"

"A bud, growing slowly from the dirt. Will you bloom into an amazing flower, or will you wilt on the vine?"

Alcea turned, her hair whipping around and flicking Blake in the face, Blake catching the faded scent of roses.

She returned to her posse and turned back to Blake, thanking him for the battle and curtsied once more, before the pack of girls left the garden.

"…She was pretty…" Kitty said, her pale face turning a light pink.

"Sorry about your loss," Julia said, patting him on the back.

"No problem!" Cynthia said, frowning. "You'll kick her ass next time, or I'll do it for you!"

"Didn't you lose to Blake?" Sango asked.

"…Shut up," Cynthia said, frowning.

"She was pretty…" Nick said, agreeing with Kitty.

"Alcea Vermeil, huh?" Blake said, smiling. "She was strong… I can't wait to fight her again…"

"Oh GOD…" Cynthia said, frowning. "You are NOT falling in LOVE with her!"

"What? No!"

"I mean, I get it, with that awesome body and that silky red hair, but you can't! You'll make Sango cry!"

"Wait, what?" Sango asked.

"Do you want that on your conscience? Breaking the heart of a poor maiden?"

"Why would that break my heart?"

"Out of your deep emotional love for Blake, of course! …Or something."

Sango leveled a glare at Cynthia, who hid behind Julia in fear.

"Don't drag me into this," Julia said, moving out of the way.

* * *

So, Blake lost against Alcea, but that was to be expected.


	14. Chapter 13

Now, time for the fallout after the battle with Alcea.

Aeromenca: Why can't she be that great of a woman?

Daozang: It's a staple on grass types to help against steel and bug types, as well as ice types.

Martyn: Nope, sorry.

ShadeZyro: Well, she is pretty cool, of course she has a lot of fans.

IfTimeWasStill: Thank you.

Duskzilla: Really? Grass types have hidden power fire all the time.

xEverlastingDarknessx: Yeah, but Venusaur should have hidden power fire.

DeviouslyNormal: You can have as many moves as you want, as long as your pokemon could potentially learn them (with reason, anyway)

Phantom-Jester: I already have an idea of when I'm going to introduce Eli again, don't worry.

Regiinator: I have a few ideas, but nothing set in stone.

Sonofthetrigod: Well, maybe she is into Blake…

Mightymareep98: Awesome review as always!

Darkmoonrise312: She's referred to as a "queen" by her peers, but it doesn't mean anything important. I hope.

Infamouskal420: Thanks!

Darkhammer: I already did, I'll bring him back in later.

Interwingular: Sorry, not accepting OCs right now.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 13

* * *

"You know, Blake, for a freshman, that was a pretty good battle," Cynthia said as she, Blake, and Julia entered Professor Kashita's class.

"Yeah, I know, I just wished I could have won."

"You can't win 'em all, that's why we're here. Soon enough, we'll all be strong enough to defeat her!"

"Yeah, maybe…"

"Geez, Blake, you are such a buzzkill!" Cynthia said, frowning.

The three sat down just as the professor walked in, making an announcement.

"Okay, class, we'll all be going outside to the fields."

The class, confused, filed out behind the professor to the large open quad outside of the building.

"Alright, today we're going to be pairing up to have pokemon battles," Professor Kashita declared. "Find a classmate and pair up with them. There's nothing better than cold hard experience. They can be single pokemon each, three on three, six on six, whatever you want, but single battles only."

"Hey, Blake, wanna-"

"Blake."

Julia interrupted Cynthia, staring at Blake.

"Fight me."

"…Wha?"

"This mopey attitude since last night is annoying me. Fight me."

"…Um… okay."

"Great, now I have to go find someone…" Cynthia said, frowning. She walked off to go talk to the other students, leaving Blake and Julia.

"Three each, sound good? Or would you rather one on one, as you did with her? Because if you want to try that Scizor of yours again, my Roden will burn him to ash."

"Three on three is fine."

"Alright then."

Julia walked a few meters away from Blake and turned around, releasing her Poochyena.

"Tara, let's go." Blake said, releasing Tara from her pokeball.

"Not Scizor?" Julia asked.

"Weiss needs his rest," Blake explained.

"Just don't use it as an excuse if you lose."

As if to answer, Blake ordered Tara to use her razor leaf, Tara swinging her tail and firing a blast of leaves at the Poochyena.

Wolfie jumped out of the way, and charged at Tara, tackling her. Tara skidded back and held her arms up, releasing her vines towards the dark pokemon.

Wolfie howled, releasing a shockwave of dark energy from around her, knocking the vines away and slamming into Tara, knocking her onto the ground.

Tara stood up, panting. She flipped her tail, launching a tornado of wind and leaves at Wolfie.

"Wolfie, dodge."

Wolfie jumped to the side with surprising speed, charging at Tara. Tara focused her energy, her tail glowing silver-white, swinging it at Wolfie.

Wolfie narrowed her eyes and jumped over Tara's tail by inches, biting her on the shoulder. Tara used her vines to knock Wolfie off of her, Wolfie running back over to wear Julia was.

"Her iron tail defeated Wolfie last time," Julia said. "So I've been teaching her how to avoid it. That's what you do when you lose. You learn about why you lost, and use it to get better."

"Yeah, I get it."

"No, you don't, that's why I'm telling you," Julia said, frowning. "You've got to work with your pokemon more to get around their weaknesses. Just because your pokemon are increasing in level doesn't actually mean that they're getting any stronger. There are countless trainers with high leveled pokemon, but the ones who become successful are the ones who can adapt to their pokemon and make strategies based around them. Your pokemon isn't the only one fighting, you're fighting too. You can't just sit back and let them do all the work."

"So you're some big strategist, huh?"

"Not a bit."

Blake looked at her, confused.

"I don't really strategize in battle," Julia said. "I let my pokemon rely on their instincts. But I also know exactly when to interfere, and tell them how to fight."

"I see," Blake said, frowning.

"Think you have enough trust in your pokemon to rely on them?"

"Definitely," Blake said, smiling.

"Good," Julia said, cracking a smile. "Okay, Wolfie, ready to go?"

Wolfie barked, charging at Tara.

"Okay, Tara, think you can handle it?"

Tara nodded, swinging her vine at Wolfie. Wolfie jumped over the vines, releasing a shockwave of dark energy at Tara. Tara swung her tail, hitting the ground, flipping herself into the air. In midair, she launched a tornado of leaves at Wolfie, knocking her off of her feet.

Wolfie rose onto her feet, shaking her head, and barked at Tara. She charged at Tara as the grass pokemon landed on the ground. Tara fired another leaf tornado at Wolfie, who quickly jumped out of the way, not losing speed a bit.

"Tara, glare!" Blake ordered. Tara narrowed her eyes, glaring at Wolfie, Wolfie's fur raising up as she froze in fear.

"Wolfie!" Julia shouted to her paralyzed pokemon. Tara ran towards Wolfie, raising her tail, hitting her head on with an iron tail attack. Wolfie was launched into the air, and hit the ground hard, unconscious.

"Return," Julia said, returning Wolfie to her pokeball. "Blaze, go."

Julia tossed out a pokeball, which her Growlithe emerged from. The orange dog pokemon growled at Tara, who glared back.

"Blaze, leer." Blaze growled at Tara, glaring fiercely at her. He then charged at the grass pokemon, and opened his mouth, firing a blast of embers.

The ember attack hit Tara head on, injuring her. Tara stood up and fired a razor leaf attack at Blaze, but the Growlithe used another ember attack to burn the leaves to ash before they could hit.

"Flame wheel!" Julia ordered. Blaze coated his body with a veil of fire, tackling Tara in the chest, knocking her backwards. Tara skidded to a stop at Blake's feet, unconscious.

"Return," Blake said, returning Tara to her pokeball. "Okay, Cory, go."

Cory emerged next, clapping his pincers excitedly. Immediately, he fire a bubblebeam at the dog pokemon, but Blaze was quick enough to avoid it, firing an ember attack off.

The embers struck Cory but did little damage. Cory fired another bubblebeam, this time a little faster, hitting Blaze head on and exploding, Blaze yelping in pain.

"Flame wheel!" Blaze's body began to burn with flames again and he charged at Cory, who chuckled. Cory aimed both pincers at the fire type and fired a double bubblebeam straight at him. However, Blaze was faster than Cory expected. Blaze leapt off the ground, just before the attacks would hit, and began spinning towards Cory. Blaze struck Cory in the face, knocking him onto his back.

Blaze landed on the ground as Cory floundered, and prepared another flame wheel.

"Cory, use crabhammer to get up!" Blake ordered.

Cory focused energy into his claw, slamming it on the ground to flip himself away from the incoming attack and back on his feet. Blaze turned to charge him, but Cory caught him upside the head with the crabhammer attack, knocking him into the air.

"You used that maneuver against Akira," Julia said as Blaze stood up.

"Worked this time, too," Blake said, grinning.

"Blaze, use flamethrower," Julia ordered. Blaze opened his mouth and fired a beam of flames at the water type, Cory jumping out of the way and charging at Blaze.

"Flame wheel!" Julia shouted. Blaze coated his body in flames, charging at Cory.

"Aqua jet," Blake ordered. Cory ran towards the fire pokemon, his body covered in water. The two pokemon collided head on, knocking each other backwards. Cory cried out from being burned by the fire attack, and Blaze collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.

Julia returned Blaze to his pokeball.

"Now then, Roden, go." Julia tossed out another pokeball, which her Houndoom emerged from, snarling at Cory.

Cory glared at Roden, wincing, and fired a bubblebeam at the fire type.

"Roden," Julia said, narrowing her eyes. Roden opened his mouth, long stream of flames shooting out. The flames burned through the bubbles, hitting Cory head on, Cory crying out in pain. He jumped from the flames, charging at Roden, blue energy glowing in his claw.

Cory swung a crabhammer at Roden, hitting him in the muzzle, knocking him backwards. Roden crashed against the ground and rose up, glaring fiercely at Cory.

"Hound!" Houndoom howled, flames swirling around his body. He released the inferno attack, powerful flames knocking Cory backwards. Cory hit the ground and bounced onto his back, unconscious.

"Return," Blake said, returning Cory to his pokeball. "Okay, Rogen, let's go."

Rogen emerged from his pokeball, and immediately fired a blast of shining stones at Houndoom, badly cutting the dog pokemon.

"Roden, flamethrower."

"Rogen, iron defense!"

Roden opened his mouth and fired a blast of flames at Rogen, whose body began glowing silver while his defenses increased.

"That won't be much help, Roden's flames rely on his special attack," Julia informed Blake.

"Rogen, use magnitude!" Rogen slammed his claws into the ground and released a series of tremors, knocking Roden off of his feet. Rogen lumbered towards the fire pokemon, who quickly jumped back, firing another blast of flames.

"We'll have to turn up the heat, then," Julia said, smirking. "Roden, use sunny day."

Roden's body glowed orange, light shooting up into the sky and intensifying the sunlight. Roden fired another flamethrower attack, this one much more powerful than the one before. The flames hid Rogen head on, this time managing to push the rock type back with their force and do a little more damage.

"Sunny day, huh?" Blake asked, frowning.

"Find it familiar?" Julia asked.

Rogen moved out of the flames and charged at Roden, who disappeared. Roden reappeared behind Rogen, hitting him in the back with a faint attack. However, the physical move did almost no damage, Roden leaping back.

"We'll have to win with pure firepower, Roden. Use another flamethrower." Roden opened his mouth, a blast of flames shooting out once more at the rock type. Rogen braced for impact, trying to endure the attacks with his tough body, but his weaker special defense was causing him to lose health in spite of his rock resistance.

"Rogen, use rock tomb underneath you!" Blake ordered. Rogen looked back at him, confused, and then nodded. He dug his claws into the ground, stones shooting out from underneath him and pushing him up out of the flames, above Roden.

Roden raised his head to hit Rogen again, Rogen holding his claws together and forming a massive rock that he fired into the center of the flames. The barrage of rock blasts pushed through the flames, hitting Roden head on, Roden crying out in pain as he was buried under a tomb of rocks. Rogen plummeted towards him, focusing energy around his body.

"Heavy slam!" Blake ordered. Rogen's body began glowing with silver energy, hitting the stone tomb head on, shattering it as he hit Roden. The dog pokemon whimpered in pain Rogen moved off of him, Roden losing consciousness.

"Return…" Julia said, returning Roden to his pokeball. "I see."

"Way to go, Rogen," Blake said, returning Rogen to his pokeball. "There, I won."

"Are you feeling better now?" Julia asked, smiling slightly.

"A lot, yeah."

"Good."

"Hey, wait a second, you didn't just let me win to make me feel better, did you?"

"Please, do I look like such a nice person?"

"…Good point."

"I wonder how Cynthia is doing…" Julia looked around for Cynthia, catching sight of her bright red hair. She and Blake headed over to check on her.

"Mach punch, Tristan!" Cynthia ordered. Her Breloom charged at a Lapras, hitting it right in the stomach. The force of the punch was powerful enough to send Lapras airborne, the water pokemon hitting the ground and losing consciousness.

"Return," Will said, returning the Lapras to its pokeball. "Pixie, go."

Will tossed out a pokeball, which a Togetic emerged from. The white pokemon flapped its tiny wings, flying into the air.

"Tristan, use spore!" Cynthia ordered. Tristan launched a wave of green spores at the Togetic, who smiled. A barrier of energy formed around Pixie, the spores disintegrating on contact.

"A safeguard, huh?" Cynthia said, frowning. "Then, we'll go for physical power, Tristan!"

Tristan nodded, opening his mouth and firing a blast of seeds at the flying pokemon.

Pixie smiled, flying out of Tristan's range.

"Aerial ace," Will ordered. Pixie shot towards Tristan like a bullet, Tristan raising his fist to counter. However, at the last moment Pixie disappeared from sight completely.

Tristan looked around frantically, Pixie appearing behind him. She hit Tristan in the back at full force, knocking Tristan forwards, Tristan crashing to the ground in pain, unconscious.

"Darn it!" Cynthia huffed. "Return, Tristan!"

Cynthia returned Tristan to his pokeball, frustrated. "I guess that's my loss."

"It was a fine battle," Will said, smirking. "I just happened to be a little better."

"Well, I'll get you next time, just you watch!"

"So, Cynthia, do you ever actually win?" Blake asked.

"Oh, shut up, Blake!" Cynthia said, frowning. "How did your battle go, anyway?"

"He beat me," Julia sighed. "But I'll just have to get stronger and defeat him next time."

"That's the spirit," Cynthia said, nodding. "I'll beat him too."

"Oh, so you're a friend of hers?" Will asked, walking up to Blake.

"Yeah, why?" Blake asked.

"Are you strong?" Will asked.

"I guess so, why?"

"Well, if you're strong, what do you think about having a battle?" Will asked.

"Right now? My party isn't healed yet."

"Maybe not right now. Some other time will be fine."

"Well, club week is starting, so that might not be the best time," Cynthia said, frowning.

"Club week?" Blake asked.

"Yeah, basically, all the clubs are putting up flyers and information around campus as sort of advertisement," Cynthia explained. "This Thursday and Friday we'll be excused from classes to go check out all the different clubs to see which ones to join."

"Whoa, two days without classes?"

"Well, clubs are important at the school. It's a way for students to earn points, as well as providing different methods of training pokemon. The two days off are to help the students find the perfect fit, since freshmen can only join one club."

"Hm…" Blake pondered.

"So what club are you going to be joining?" Julia asked.

"…No idea," Cnthia admitted sheepishly. "Maybe if there's like a battle club or something, I might join that."

"…I think that would be a little crowded," Blake said. "So I'm not sure if you should try that."

"Well, we can go on Thursday and get a brochure to check out all the clubs on campus. Maybe we'll find one that will be interesting."

"Sounds good," Julia said, nodding. "What about…"

"What about what?" Sango asked, appearing beside her.

"…Never mind."

* * *

I wonder what clubs the characters will join…


	15. Chapter 14

Club Days at last!

Sonofthetrigod: It is a very enjoyable trope.

Arcana of the North: We'll have too see.

Phantom-Jester: Yeah, I kept it out on purpose. It's more fun if I get to choose.

Duskzilla: We'll have to see.

Daozang: Thanks, it means a lot.

Darkhammer: Kay, I'll try.

Martyn: Maybe, but not in this chapter.

BloodStarGeneral: Well, that's definitely a club…

Regiinator: Sounds like a good idea to me.

My Wunderwaffle iz missin: Hope it will.

DeviouslyNormal: No problem.

ShadeZyro: Well, we'll see a few of them this chapter.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 14

* * *

"Wow, it's such a great feeling to have no classes!" Sango said, stretching. She and Julia joined up with the three boys, and were heading out to the quad, where the clubs had set up stalls to attract people.

"Where's Cynthia?" Nick asked.

"She said she had something to do," Sango said. "She left earlier."

"I'm a little worried, honestly," Julia sighed.

"Whoa…" Blake said, staring at the large amount of people before them. The edges of the quad were lined with tables with colored banners decorating them. A few more were pushed out onto the grass, and a few more will near the river moving through the campus. Consulting the map, Blake learned that this was only about half the clubs on campus. Other clubs were on the other fields and meeting places in campus.

Not only were people moving to each of the stalls to check out what they were doing, there were also representatives from many of the clubs handing out flyers to people.

"So, any clubs you guys want to check out first?" Julia asked.

"Well, my club activities are pretty much already spoken for," Sango sighed. "I'm just here for moral support."

"What club are you joining?" Julia asked, surprised.

"Survival Club," Sango said. "Not only is it a sponsored club with a large budget, it also provides extra credit for people joining the Ranger Course. Combine that with my application to join campus security, I'm going to be busy pretty soon."

"Well, that sounds pretty cool," Reiner said.

"You'd think so…" Sango sighed. "Unfortunately, I've been getting a bunch of propositions to join other clubs…"

"Like what?"

"Well, mainly… nearly every athletic club has sent me a pamphlet on their activities…"

"Yeah, our school doesn't have that many athletic clubs for people," Julia agreed, "so it makes sense that the ones we have are eager to get someone like Sango to join."

"Well, I think a club like that would suit you," Reiner shrugged.

"Yeah, no thanks…" Sango said, shaking her head. "As much as I like my exercise, if I want to be a top ranger I've got put as much effort into it as I can."

"…Personally, I think that a survival club is a pain…" Reiner sighed. "Why do we have to join a club? I'd rather just relax…"

"Don't be lazy," Julia sighed. "Besides, the point of these next few days is for you to find out exactly what clubs suit you."

"…What about that club?" Reiner asked, pointing to a group of girls handing out flyers in swimsuits, boys crowding around them.

"…Pathetic," Sango sighed. "You'd have to stoop pretty low to try and use sex appeal to draw boys to your club…"

"Come join the Pokemon Friends Club!" a very familiar voice shouted. Everyone turned to see two girls handing out flyers. When their eyes landed on the two girls, they stayed there.

The two girls were a short and slim redhead with a bright smile on her face, and a tall, stacked girl with black hair, who was slightly more embarrassed. Both girls were dressed in skimpy Lopunny costumes.

"Is that Cynthia?" Sango asked, embarrassed for her friend.

"And Serefina…" Blake said, staring attentively at the embarrassed brunette.

"Eyes up, boys," Sango said, elbowing Blake in the stomach.

"Oh, hey, Blake!" Cynthia said, her face brightening as she noticed her friends.

"Say nothing and ignore her, pretend we don't know who she is," Sango said as Cynthia called over to them.

"Blake!"

The group slowly walked in the opposite direction, not staring at Cynthia at all.

"Blake!"

"Blake!"

"Blake!"

"Blake!"

"Blake!"

"…"

"PAY ATTENTION TO ME, JACKASS!"

Cynthia caught Blake in the back with a drill kick, sending him rolling across the grass as she landed on the ground.

"Lopunny used high jump kick!" Julia gasped.

"It's super effective!" Sango said, shocked.

"What the hell?" Blake exclaimed, rubbing his back as Reiner helped him up. "Why the hell would you just kick me like that?"

"You weren't paying attention to me."

"Of course not! Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is to have someone dressed like talking to me?"

"Oh, you would love it," Cynthia said, smirking smugly.

"That outfit is way too distracting," Sango said, interceding on Blake's behalf. "Nick has absolutely no idea where to look."

"Is this that 'thing' you told us about yesterday?" Julia asked.

"Yup!" Cynthia chirped. "The club paid me to help them pass out flyers."

She turned to Blake.

"Come on, guys, you should join the Pokemon Friends Club!"

"Absolutely not."

"Oh, come on…" She purred, sliding up to him. "If you sign up, you could get some 'special service,' what do you say?"

Blake stared at the idiot as she pulled the hemline above her chest out a little to entice him to stare.

"Yeah, that flat chest of yours isn't doing it for me," Blake said, shaking his head.

 _He said it!_ Julia gasped internally.

 _I can't believe he said it!_ Reiner said to himself.

"How could you say that?" Cynthia exclaimed. "Just because I'm small doesn't mean I'm flat! Who do you think I am, Sango?"

"Hey!"

"Stop growing vertically and start growing horizontally if you don't like it!"

"I have a runner's body and I'm fine with it!"

"Blake doesn't want to be with a girl that's taller than him!"

"That doesn't have anything to do with anything! Besides, I'm only 5'6", how tall are you?"

Cynthia baulked a little, looking down.

"B-besides, since I'm a little short, it makes my figure stick out more! Your freakish height makes it even more obvious that you don't have anything there!"

 _She changed the subject,_ Julia thought.

 _She completely changed the subject,_ Reiner thought.

 _Did I do something really bad in a past life to merit this treatment?_ Blake asked himself.

"Cynthia…" Cynthia turned to see Serefina walk up to her, her face bright red. "I-I handed in all the flyers, can I stop this now?"

"No, remember, this exposure is exactly how we get more people to join the club," Cynthia explained. "With that body of yours, every single boy is likely to join!"

"Yeah, but I feel kind of…" Serefina said, looking around.

"This is ridiculous, I'm leaving…" Blake sighed.

"Why is he in such a bad mood?" Serefina asked, confused.

"Oh, he's just been a little depressed ever since Alcea beat him," Cynthia explained.

"Oh, I see…" Serefina said, nodding. "…Wait… did you say 'Alcea'?"

"…Yeah… why?"

"You don't mean Alcea Vermeil, do you?" Serefina asked, nervous.

"…Yeah, I think that was her name…"

"What?" Serefina exclaimed.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Dakota exclaimed, jumping out from the bushes in shock, Serefina jumping back with a shriek.

"Wh-what were you doing there?" Serefina demanded.

"…Research."

"What's so special about Alcea?" Blake asked.

"Everything!" Dakota exclaimed. "She's the strongest girl in the junior class, and is called 'Queen of Roses' by her underclassmen, for her noble air and beautiful red hair, not to mention the rumor she's from Kalos royalty! She never battles anyone, except for school events! I can't believe I missed it! DAMN IT!"

"She's unbelievably strong…" Serefina said, frowning. "Some people even say that she's stronger than seniors…"

"She was also voted 'number one girl I'd like to step on me and treat me like dirt' by the boys…" Dakota said, frowning. "Beautiful and powerful…"

"Well, she did kick Blake's ass pretty badly," Reiner agreed.

"I can't believe she accepted a battle with you, though…" Serefina said, frowning.

"Actually, she called him out, if I recall," Sango said.

"WHAT?!" Dakota and Serefina exclaimed. "No way!"

"It's gotta be…" Dakota said, frowning.

"What?" Sango asked.

"…The beautiful queen, drawn in by the allure of a younger man, and asked him for a private battle in the moonlight…" Dakota said, nodding. "That's gotta be the opening line…"

"That is absolutely not it." Everyone who had been there agreed at once.

"Still, I wonder why she would ask you to battle?" Serefina mused, frowning.

"No idea, really," Blake said.

"What's so impressive about her? I mean, she's strong, but you guys are treating her like she's some kind of legend…" Cynthia said, frowning.

"Have you heard of the Eight Leaders?" Serefina asked.

"Is that something like the Elite Four?" Cynthia asked warily.

"It's a title passed to the eight best juniors in the Battle Course," Dakota explained. "Basically, it's saying that those eight will eventually become gym leaders."

"Alcea is one of three students of the current year to reach that rank as a sophomore," Serefina said. "Meaning that as a sophomore she was strong enough to compete with people who are now seniors."

"That is impressive," Cynthia said, nodding.

"Currently, she's the Sixth Gym," Serefina explained. "Which means she's the third strongest junior, as well as the strongest female student."

"Well, at least it makes a little bit more sense why Blake got his ass kicked," Sango said, nodding.

"Do we have to keep saying it like that?" Blake asked.

"Excuse me," Julia interrupted, everyone turning to her.

"Yeah?" Serefina asked.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we do still need to check out some of the clubs…" Julia said. "If you don't mind…"

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Serefina gasped, embarrassed. "Sorry, I completely forgot!"

She turned to Blake and the others.

"Listen, if you could, please stop by the Pokemon Friends Club booth, and check us out… don't worry, I promise, it's not as bad as it looks, we don't wear costumes like this."

"…Uh, sure…" Blake said, nodding.

"I feel like I just lost…" Cynthia said, frowning.

"I get that feeling too," Sango agreed.

Serefina ran off to go get changed, Dakota following after her initially, but stopped and turned back to Blake.

"Be sure to check out the newspaper club too," Dakota said, handing Blake a flyer.

"Absolutely not."

"Don't be so mean!" Dakota huffed, storming off. Blake crumpled up the flyer and jammed it into his pocket, turning to everyone.

"So, think we should check out the Pokemon Friends Club?" Blake asked.

"Yeah, but first I have to change out of this costume," Cynthia said. "This thing gets fur everywhere, even up my-"

"Okay, let's go," Sango said, pushing her towards the library and the bathrooms within it.

"Hey…" Julia said, Blake turning to her.

"Yeah?"

"I don't want to go to the Pokemon Friends Club first…" Julia said, frowning.

"Where do you want to go?"

"Oh, I got it!" Reiner interrupted, grinning. "When it's stuff like this, we'll have to check out the food places!"

"Food-?" Julia asked, confused.

Reiner grabbed her and Blake by the wrists and dragged them across the quad, reaching a small waist high fence surrounding large tables. People were crowded around, eating food. A Charizard was standing under a large tent, its tail flames being used to keep a grill lit while it cooked hamburgers with small bursts of fire.

"Pokemon Cooking Club!" Reiner said. "I noticed it when I glanced through the pamphlet!"

"…This is pretty cool," Julia admitted. The group waited in the line, Sango and Cynthia rejoining them a few minutes later.

"What's with the kids?" Cynthia asked.

"Well, from what I hear, Club Day is open to families in the area. Some come for the food, some come for the entertainment that some of the clubs show, and some come so their kids can play with the pokemon," Reiner explained. "I think it's pretty cool, to be honest. The money the clubs make off of their services helps stimulate their budget."

After getting their food, they sat down at one of the empty tables, and quick wolfed the food down. The line had been a twenty minute wait, and it had worked up an appetite for them.

"So, Pokemon Friends Club first?" Cynthia asked.

"Julia actually had somewhere she wanted to go before that, if that's okay," Blake said.

"Yeah, sure, no problem," Cynthia said, nodding.

After finishing their food, the group followed Julia's lead. However, to their surprise, she didn't lead them back to the quad, and instead headed towards the edge of campus.

"Venusaur Hall?" Cynthia asked, confused. "Why are we here?"

Julia used her card to open the door and headed inside, walking to one of the rooms.

"Gardening Club?" Sango asked, confused, Julia knocking on the door. Everyone realized where they were just before a familiar face walked to the door.

"Welcome to the Gardening Club!" the brown haired girl everyone only knew as Kate said. When she noticed who was there, her face soured.

"You three, get out," she snapped, glaring at Blake, Reiner and Nick.

"What? Why?" Blake demanded.

"The Gardening Club is a place for people seeking to refine themselves in the arts of preserving delicate beauty and gentle nature," Kate explained, leering at them. "It's no place for dirty boys like you."

"Kate."

"But…"

"Let them in."

The girl grumbled, cursed, and looked like she wanted to hurl, but she opened the door to let them inside.

"Bienvenue," Alcea said. She stood from her desk and curtsied, walking over to them. "What can I help you with?"

"Um, not me," Blake said, turning to Julia.

"Oh? Joining the Gardening Club, is it?"

"Sorry, no," Julia said, shaking her head. "No offense, but flowers just aren't my thing."

"Then what business do you have here?"

"I want a battle," Julia said, frowning. "You and me."

"I refuse."

"Wh-what?"

"I refuse. Je refuse," Alcea said, repeating it again in French.

"Wh-why?" Julia asked. "You fought Blake, why won't you fight me?"

"I do not accept challenges," Alcea said. "If I accepted challenges, then I would have no time for anything else. Excuse-moi, but I do not have the time to spare to strike elegance into you."

"Then if you won't fight me, train me!" Julia exclaimed. Alcea's eyes narrowed at this.

"…Train you, is it?"

"I want to become strong like you," Julia said. "Seeing you fight like that, I've never seen anything like it. You, and that girl Gabrielle… you're all so strong, and I want to be like that too."

"…Training you… something like that… I have even less time for."

Sango poked Julia on the shoulder.

"It's because you said you didn't like flowers."

"Our Queen is very busy," Kate said, frowning. "Now if you don't have any more business, I'd like to ask you to leave."

Blake became suddenly aware of the other girls in the club leering at them, uncomfortable with boys in their club.

"Why do you want to be strong?" Alcea asked suddenly, catching Julia off of her guard.

"The Eight Leaders," Julia said, like that solved everything.

"Ah. So you've heard that Gabrielle and I are both among the Eight Leaders. However…"

Alcea moved closer to Julia, close enough for Julia to smell her perfume.

"It seems you aren't after my title… So what else could you be after?"

"The reason I came here... to this school… I wanted to become a gym leader."

"A gym leader, is it?"

"Wow," Cynthia said, surprised.

"So, you must have heard the those who are the 'Eight Leaders' almost invariably receive invitations from the Pokemon League to be gym leaders, is it?"

"Yeah," Julia said, nodding. "And the only way that can happen is if I become stronger than anyone else."

"I see…" Alcea said, nodding. "Perhaps I could train you…"

"Really?" Julia asked, her face brightening.

"…No. Not as you are. However, it isn't impossible… you would have to do something in exchange…"

"Name it," Julia said, a big smile on her face.

"I am unfamiliar with your pokemon, and of their skills, but from what I can see of you, you are in great need of refinement. If you join the Gardening Club and polish yourself in the ways of grace and elegance, then I will train you to become a trainer capable of being among the ranks of the Eight Leaders."

Julia bit her lip, frowning.

"You should feel honored," Kate said, smirking. "Our Queen doesn't offer to train just anyone."

* * *

EoS: But is such training a good thing?


	16. Chapter 15

So, here's the second part of Club Days! Quite a few things will happen here…

Regiinator: Well, we'll see, won't we?

Sonofthetrigod: She's a lot of fun, that's why I like her.

Duskzilla: You are a person after my own heart.

BloodStarGeneral: Yes, there is a similar ranking system for each of the five curricula in the school. For example, in the Appeal Course there are the Five Idols, who are the top ranking coordinators in each of the five categories of contests. As for benefits, think of the Appeals Course as something similar to an acting school. For example, Dakota will enter the Appeals Course in her junior year even though she isn't a coordinator, because the Appeals Course has to do less with contests as a whole and more with pokemon artistry and appeal as a whole. Pokemon Announcers, Pokemon Movie Stars, groomers, even musicians, they all are part of the Appeals Course. High grades in your specialty is similar to graduating from a prestigious college in our world, so it will almost guarantee you a job in your desired field if you're good enough at it. Several people within the Five Idols have gone on to become professional Coordinators and Movie Stars. It's very similar to college sports, as talent scouts are often present at the school's contests in order to find potential stars. Even background work such as grooming and pokeblock making is good to excel in, because if pokemon you helped to groom become successful, it looks good on your resume as well. As for the Battle Frontier, THIS WAS LEFT OFF THE LIST INTENTIONALLY. It will be important later on in the story.

DS49: Thanks.

Daozang: Well, "Lopunny Costume" is kind of an exaggeration. "Brown and Tan Playboy Bunny Girl Outfit" would probably be more accurate.

Arcana of the North: Not exactly a league, just a ranking system.

Darkmoonrise312: It was an amazing and awesome thing.

My Wunderwaffle iz missin: They're not that bad. To girls, anyway.

Darkhammer: Hopefully so.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 15

* * *

"Thank you for your application," the redhead said, a forced smile on her face as the boy left. Eli was currently sitting at the stand of the Pokemon Friends Club, a large stack of applications in front of her. She added the newest one to the pile, frowning in irritation.

"Nothing but pervy boys wanting to join…" Eli sighed. "This is all Seri's fault…"

"…Um…" a soft voice spoke up, Eli looking up to find its owner. However, there was no one to be seen.

"I'd like to join…" the voice said again.

"A ghost?" Eli asked, shocked. She jumped up and ran around the table, only to notice that the speaker was not, in fact, a ghost.

The large stack of paper had blocked the short girl from view, but now Eli could see her clearly. She had pale white skin and wispy white hair, and looked so fine and delicate that she could break with a touch.

She was like a doll.

Eli found herself getting red in spite of herself as she stared at Kitty, and shook her head to distract herself.

"Sure, you can join!" Eli said, smiling, adjusting her glasses. "Just add your submission to the pile."

Kitty turned to look at the large stack of papers and reached up to try and put hers on it. Unfortunately, she was too short to reach that high.

 _So adorable!_ Eli thought in spite of herself. She took the sheet from Kitty's hand and placed it on the pile, smiling.

Kitty looked down, her pale face a light pink, and gave a small smile before she turned and ran off.

"So cute…" Eli said, blushing. "…Wait, this doesn't make me a hypocrite, does it?"

* * *

"Oh, so that's how it is," Cynthia said, her lips curling into a smile.

"…" Alcea glanced at her, frowning.

"You're into Clamperls, aren't you?" Cynthia asked, grinning. "That's why you won't let boys join your club, and that's why you don't have a boyfriend in spite of your beauty. It's not just that queen nature of yours, you like playing with Cloysters, don't you? It's not something to be embarrassed about."

"So vulgar!" Kate exclaimed.

"You are mistaken," Alcea said, shaking her head.

"Yeah!" One of the girls shouted. "Our lady likes boys, but none of them have made the cut!"

"Oh?" Cynthia asked, intrigued.

"If any stupid boy has any ideas about dating our lady, he has to meet the criteria she sets!"

"And what criteria is that?"

Kate walked over to bookshelf. Alcea realized a fraction to late what she was about to do, and her objections were drowned out by Kate's reading.

"Number 1: Above all else, must be a strong and elegant pokemon trainer.

Number 2: Charming and compassionate, a true gentleman.

Number 3: Must have a love of flowers.

Number 4: Just like me, cannot so much as kissed another person before.

Number 5: A chance encounter with him on a beautiful Rapidash.

Number 6: It must be love at first sight.

Number 7: A handsome prince of a foreign land would be desired.

Number 8: Would sacrifice his life to protect me if needed.

Number 9: Not just gallant and brave, must be intelligent as well.

Number 10: He must intend to date with the expectation of marriage."

"…" Alcea tried to maintain a composed expression, but her embarrassment was apparent on her face.

 _THIS PERSON DOESN'T EXIST!_ The group thought as one.

"For any man to date our lady, he must at least meet those qualifications," Kate said, smirking. "So you boys can give up now."

"Kate, please sit down," Alcea said, frowning. She coughed, and turned to Julia.

"If you aren't up for joining, there are other options you can seek. There is Gym Leader Training Club you can join. Elle is a part of it. If you joined, she could help you train. You wanted to train under someone strong, is it?"

 _She's trying to change the subject._ Everyone thought again.

"I realize that," Julia said, nodding.

"Elle is a master of strategy, and practices constantly. With her potential of growth, I have no doubt that by graduation she will have become much stronger than I."

"I see, so you think that by the time she graduates, she'll be a better trainer than you?" Julia asked.

"I'm certain of it."

"If that's the case, then that means you're stronger than she is right now then, isn't that right?"

"…" Alcea's lips curled into a smile. "Is it?"

"So if I want to become stronger now, I have to train with you, right?"

"That sounds right. That's what you want, is it?"

"It is."

"Très bien. Kate, please give her the paperwork to fill out."

"Well, guys, looks like I found my club," Julia said, smiling.

"Hey, do you think I can join?" Cynthia asked.

"…No," Alcea said, shaking her head.

"Wha? Why not?"

"You seem… like a bad idea to be around."

"…" Everyone tried hard not to laugh. Tried.

"Fine, let's go," Cynthia huffed.

"Feel free to come back any time for a visit," Alcea said.

"Hey, do you mind if I fill this out later, so I can hang out with my friends some more?" Julia asked.

"Of course," Alcea said, nodding.

* * *

"Where should we head to next?" Reiner asked.

"Well, we could check out the Pokemon Friends Club now," Cynthia suggested. Everyone seemed okay with this idea, so the group headed back to the central field. However, the place was a lot more crowded than it had been.

They moved through the crowd, following Cynthia. Blake felt some people bump into him, pushing him away from them, and he felt a hand press tightly on his shoulder. Something was slipped into his shirt pocket.

Blake reached in and found a slip of paper, his eyes narrowing as he read it.

"Blake, you coming?" Cynthia called. Blake looked up to see Cynthia through the part in the crowd. He slipped the note into his pocket, and followed after her.

Cynthia led them to the stand for the Pokemon Friends Club, where a beleaguered Eli was sitting.

"Well, Cynthia, it seems your brilliant idea worked wonders in attracting prospective members," Eli said, gesturing to the large stack of papers.

"Hey, come on now, it worked perfectly!" Cynthia said, grinning.

"Yeah, but it's a bunch of pervy guys who just want to stare at Seri all day," Eli sighed, her face turning red and looking down. "Are these really the kind of people we want to join?"

"I thought you guys were desperate?" Cynthia asked. "Besides, I've got a few new prospective members for you!"

Eli eyed them, and sighed.

"More boys? At least you got some girls, though."

"I'm joining a different club," Sango chirped.

"Same," Julia nodded.

"So, Eli, how's the recruitment drive going?"

Everyone's heads turned to see Lukas walk up, a coy smile on his face.

"…Go away please," Eli said, frowning.

"Oh, come on, don't be like that," Lukas said, smiling. "Still, I'm here for a different reason."

Lukas turned to Cynthia and smiled.

"Dear lady, would you like to join my club? It's called the 'Pokemon Beautification' Club. Club activities include long walks on the beach and late night pokemon grooming sessions."

"Don't 'dear lady' me," Cynthia said, shaking her head, smirking. "Besides, I already told you I like girly girls, not girly boys."

"Oh, playing coy, are we?"

"If you think this is me playing coy, girls must reject you more than I thought."

"Lukas, could you PLEASE not pick up girls in front of our stand?" Eli asked, looking down.

"Oh, sweet little Eli, feeling jealous, are we?" Lukas asked, turning to her.

"Please, you are NOT my type," Eli giggled.

"Oh, you wound me," Lukas said, holding his hand over his heart in exaggerated pain.

Eli chuckled in spite of herself, and then resumed her serious expression.

"Don't worry, I'm gone," Lukas said, grinning. "Talk to you again, Cynthia!"

"Please don't!" Cynthia said, smiling cheerfully.

"…So, you guys wanted to join?" Eli asked, turning back to them.

"I'll join," Cynthia said, nodding.

"…Me too," Nick said.

"…I need to think about it," Blake said.

"Really?" Cynthia asked, surprised. "I thought this would be a perfect fit."

"Yeah, but I need to think. I'll give my answer tomorrow."

"Okay, well, here, take these forms to fill out," Eli said, handing the three of them sheets of paper.

"What about you?" Julia asked, turning to Reiner.

"…Doesn't seem like a fit for me," Reiner said, shrugging. "I'll keep looking."

"Where do you want to head then?" Cynthia asked.

"Nah, we'll split up here," Reiner said. "I'll see you guys later."

Reiner headed off, Cynthia watching after him with concern.

* * *

Reiner opened his phone, and answered it.

"Hey, teach, what's up?"

"…"

"Yeah, they do have a Pokemon Archaeology Club."

"…"

"No, I'm not going to join… I think I'll be joining the Gym Leader Training Club. It's what my family wants to do, and all. This'll be the quickest path to becoming a strong trainer."

"…Yeah, talk to you later, teach."

Reiner pocketed the phone, took out a map, and looked for the club.

* * *

"Okay, I'll turn my form in to the Survival Club," Sango said. "Wanna check it out, guys?"

"Sure," Blake said, nodding. "It sounds interesting."

Sango led them across campus to where the Survival Club had its stand set up. Unlike the other clubs, the Survival Club had been allocated the entire field around Pichu House. Pichu House was already further away than the other dorms, located on a small hill for the wild pokemon in the area to wander around. Several students were hanging around, some wearing armbands to signify they were Ranger Majors.

"Oh, it's you guys!"

Aidan walked up, waving to them, Arion walking beside him.

"Oh, Aidan, what's up?" Sango asked, smiling. "You joining too?"

"Yup," Aidan said, nodding. "Gotta get those extra credit points."

"Totally."

"Lot of people here," Blake said, surprised.

"Well, the Survival Club is special because it's one of the few school sponsored clubs worth class credit," Aidan explained. "So a lot of people looking to join the Ranger Course join."

Sango and Aidan walked up to the stand, where a large man with a stern expression sat, leering at them. He was built lean and strong, the arm band signifying being a Ranger Major was wrapped around his arm. He had short black hair and tanned skin, and dark red eyes. Perched behind him was a Noivern, the large bat-like dragon type staring at them.

"Are you joining the Survival Club?" the student asked in a rough voice.

"Um… yes…" Aidan said, nodding.

"Think you're cut out for it?" the junior asked. "If you're someone who thinks he can join this club in order to slack his way through his Ranger Course, you're going to learn pretty fast that you just made the biggest mistake of your life."

"Whoa, hey now, I just want to join to become the best ranger I can," Sango said, frowning. "Is this the place where I can do that?"

"…And do you… have what it takes?"

"You'll have to find out, won't you?"

The student's face cracked what might have been a smile, but looked more like a smirk.

"Sound's good. Here's a waiver to fill out, in case you end up… not so happy with your experiences."

Aidan and Sango both took the waivers, and walked back to the others.

"That guy was scary…" Aidan said, frowning.

"Oh, the Sarge?" Everyone turned to see a dark skinned man with slicked back hair and amber eyes, a dim smile on his face like he was laughing at a joke no one else understood.

"Who are you?" Cynthia asked, frowning.

"Andre," the boy said, smiling. "I'm the vice president of the club." He pointed to the orange armband signifying his major. "Although I'm also a security volunteer. Oh, and this is my partner, Loki."

A Banette popped up from behind him, cackling.

"That guy's name is Sarge?" Sango asked, turning to look at the junior.

"Nah, we just call him Sarge since he acts like a drill sergeant," Andre explained. "His name's Eric. He's currently the president of the Survival Club. He might be a little serious, but once you get to know him he's not that bad."

"Huh…" Aidan said, frowning.

"He was vice president last year, and while he might have been pretty rough, he did weed out a lot of people who were just joining this club for the points. No slacking off when Sarge is around."

"Sounds perfect," Sango said, grinning. "I take things to the extreme no matter what I'm doing."

"Well, the faster you get those forms turned in, the better," Andre said, smiling. "Sarge likes it when people show initiative."

Andre waved at them as he walked back into the building, his Banette floating behind him.

"Odd guy," Cynthia said, frowning.

"Weird…" Julia agreed.

* * *

Reiner walked up to the stand for the Pokemon Gym Training Club, a few students standing in a line in front.

Elle was perched on a stool behind the table, reading a book. Each student who handed her a form, she looked it over, looked them over, and then put the form in one of two piles.

"…Weak."

Elle dropped the form into the much larger pile, and waved the student off.

This continued for a little while. Will, who was also in line, finally reached the front, and handed her the form.

This time, Elle looked up with more than a glance, and paused as if trying to remember where she had seen him before. A spark of recognition flashed in her eyes.

"…Good enough."

Elle dropped the form into the stack which was maybe five forms high and waved Will off, returning to her book.

"Elle, what are you doing?"

Heads turned to see a man with short, dark brown hair and light blue eyes hidden behind glasses walk up, a kind smile on his face. He wore a red armband, signifying he was in the battle course. Elle gave him the barest glance of acknowledgment before returning to her book.

"Accepting applications."

"That isn't what it looks like."

"They were weak."

"That's why we have an aptitude test."

"Too much work."

"That's not up to you. You're just the vice president."

"Aptitude test?" Reiner, who was currently at the front of the line, asked.

"Oh, yes, see, we don't just accept anyone into the Gym Leader Training Club, we make prospective members take a battle test to see if they have the potential to become a gym leader," the brown haired student explained. "See, a lot of people want to join in order to become stronger, but it takes more than just a strong student to be a gym leader."

"…It doesn't," Elle said.

"Yes, it does."

"No."

"You aren't helping."

"…"

"She has a point, though," the man sighed. "See, some people just aren't cut out for it, no matter how hard they train. That's why this course is so exclusive. Anyone who doesn't think they have what it takes should leave. Our training regimen is not for anyone who's just trying to prove he's strong."

He turned to Reiner.

"You seem tough, but have you got the drive? I'm not sure." He took the application from Reiner, and dropped it into the smaller pile. "Still, the aptitude test will prove it. If not, the Gym Master Challenge certainly will."

"Gym Master Challenge?" Reiner asked.

"Oops, that was supposed to be a secret," the man said, smiling sheepishly. "Well, no matter. You'll see soon enough. I hope you do make it into the club, though. Tell me, what's your name?"

"…Reiner. Reiner Zollern." Reiner held his hand out, the man taking it.

"Gerard Alkwest. Gym Leader Training Club President, and Eighth Leader."

Reiner's eyes widened, Gerard dropping his hand.

"I do hope all of you can make it through the aptitude tests."

* * *

That night, after Reiner and Nick had fallen asleep, Blake read over the note dropped into his pocket. He headed out of his room, and walked up the hill towards Pichu Dorm.

He followed the smell of fish cooking, heading into the field behind the building where Andre was seated next to a camp fire.

"Ah, Blake, you made it."

The flames reflected off of Andre's amber eyes as a smile crept to his face when he saw Blake.

* * *

EoS: So… quite a few things happened in this chapter, yes?


	17. Chapter 16

In this chapter, Blake will officially join a club, and we get to see Reiner take the "Aptitude Test" to join the club. What will that entail?

Wildlian: Yeah, of the six "main freshmen" Nick is kind of the least interesting, sorry. I was going to include more, but this chapter was already long and juggling several plots. But don't worry, that's why I put him in the same club as Cynthia and maybe Blake, to help the two of them develop his character.

Arcana of the North: Most likely.

Duskzilla: It does indeed help, as being part of a good club will help find a better path for a career.

BloodStarGeneral: He deserves that.

Sonofthetrigod: We'll have to see, won't we?

Daozang: No, slacking is not allowed.

Regiinator: Well, he will end up fighting them at some point. We'll have to see what will happen, won't we?

Darkhammer: Thanks!

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 16

* * *

"So what is it you wanted to meet with me about?" Blake asked.

"Two things," Andre said, smiling.

"What?"

"For one, 'she' will be transferring to this school next semester."

"…What?" Blake asked, his face going pale.

Andre gestured for Blake to sit.

"Yeah, I heard it myself. She managed to pass a special test that lets her join next semester. Thankfully, she won't be coming until then, so the 'Brown Hurricane' will be away for a little longer."

"I don't believe this…" Blake said, shaking his head.

"As I recall, you and her got along okay."

"No, she got along with me. I did NOT get along with her."

"Yeah, this is all too confusing for me, anyhow. Still, I thought I'd tell you."

"That's it? You called me here to terrify me?"

"Not quite," Andre said, shaking his head. "I've got a little information."

"Information?" Blake asked.

"On 'that person' you're looking for?"

Blake's eyes widened.

"Sinnoh," Andre said, a serious expression on his face. "That's where you'll find them."

"How do you know this?"

"Your brother asked my sister to look into a rumor. It turns out that rumor panned out. My sister couldn't get ahold of Kanone, so she asked me to reach out to you."

"And you're sure?"

"She's positive."

"Great."

Blake stood up, Andre grabbing him by the hand.

"As your upperclassman, I'll have to advise you against what you're about to go do," Andre said, smiling. "Don't worry."

"But…"

"Remember why your brother sent you here," Andre said. "You told him you wanted to become stronger. Here, you'll become stronger. My sister will keep tabs as a favor to Kanone, and I'll let you know as things change. When you meet up again, you'll be ready. Just keep training, and wait until when the time is right."

"Thanks, Andre."

"Don't thank me, just tell your brother that we're even."

"Thanks. I will."

"And I think that Professor Reinhart will want to know, don't you?"

"…Probably."

* * *

The second day of clubs, things were still going great.

"Oh, Blake, you're going to join?"

Serefina was at the stand now, a bright smile on her face.

"You aren't handing out fliers?" Blake asked, surprised.

"Yeah… Eli said it wasn't a good idea for me to keep doing that…" Serefina said, smiling sheepishly. "Plus, that outfit was kind of… revealing."

"That's for sure," Blake said, making a mental note to later buy copies of the pictures Dakota had taken of Serefina and Cynthia.

"Still, it's good that you're joining," Serefina said, smiling. "Eli refused most of the applicants who wanted to join…"

 _Yeah, cause it was a bunch of perverted guys…_ Blake thought. "So how many members do you have?"

"With you, Cynthia, and Nick… we have eight."

"Eight?" Blake asked, surprised.

"Yeah, I know…" Serefina said, looking down, sighing. "Still, there's enough to do with just eight of us! …Although, one of our members doesn't come to meetings… And our president doesn't come that often either…"

* * *

Meanwhile, Reiner was part of a large group of people who had been led to two large stadiums set up in the woods behind the school. Standing in front of the stadiums were Elle, as well as a boy Reiner didn't recognize.

Gerard, who had led the group, stepped up to them. He turned with a flourish, pushing his glasses up.

"Now then, all of you… You all have applied to be members of the Gym Leader Training Club. As you may know, many of the students who are members of this club eventually become members of the Eight Gym Leaders of the school. However, we can't just let anyone join. Because of that, there is a certain number of freshmen who can enter each year."

Gerard coughed, and then moved his hand to reveal a smirk.

"Two. Out of the number of you here, no more than two of you will have the opportunity to join this club."

Everyone gasped out in shock.

"Allow me to explain the rules for this application test."

Gerard held his arm out, and feathers rustled overhead. An Archen landed on his arm, a sheet of paper in its mouth.

 _An Archen? And it can fly?_ Reiner asked himself in shock. Archen were ancient pokemon revived from fossils, and were known among experts as flying types that could not fly. For an Archen to be able to do so… What sort of training must it have had?

Gerard took the sheet of paper from the bird pokemon.

"Now then, we will divide you into two brackets. When I say your name, go to the stadium I point to."

After he finished reading off the names, the students were divided into two groups.

"Now, time to explain the rules. You see, each of you will face off against another trainer, chosen at random by a lottery. The rules are simple, you can each use your full party of pokemon. When all of your pokemon have fainted, you are disqualified. If you pass, you will take another number, and this will continue until all but one person in each block has been eliminated. Furthermore, no use of items or anything of the sort between fights."

Reiner went slightly pale. With how is was described, there would be no healing between battles.

"How well have you trained up your pokemon individually? How much endurance do they have? As a gym leader, you will be facing waves of trainers. If your pokemon aren't resilient enough for that, then we have no use for you."

"So the two trainers who pass the test get to enter the club?" Someone from the bracket Reiner wasn't in asked.

Gerard's lips curled into another smirk.

"Of course not. Being able to defeat groups of trainers of your level wouldn't mean a thing if you all are weak. No, the two trainers who pass the test, they will face one of our members in battle. Blue Block will face off against Elle, our vice president, while Red Block will face off against Austin, the strongest sophomore in our club."

"What?!" Blue Block shouted. "That's not fair!"

"Why not?" Gerard asked. "Gabrielle and Austin will each use one pokemon, against however many of your pokemon are still standing. If you can prove your strength against either of them, we will have no trouble admitting you into the club. Don't worry, while Austin might not be one of the Eight Leaders yet, his pokemon will be strong enough to match up with Elle's."

 _Can I do this?_ Reiner asked himself, staring at Austin, the student he would face if he could win. He was tall and slender, with brown hair down to his collar. He wore brown glasses, and cold green eyes. His face was as expressionless as Elle's. From what I heard, Cynthia, Julia, and Blake couldn't lay a hand on her. Not only that, she's one of the Eight Leaders… like that woman, Alcea… and this guy is as strong as her?

"Now, come and draw lots, all of you," Gerard said.

Everyone began drawing lots and getting paired up. There were only 18 people in Reiner's block, so things would go pretty fast. His number was "3".

Pretty quickly, things started to go wrong for everyone. A lot of trainers lost most of their pokemon in their first round, and Reiner was no exception, his Zangoose and Treecko both fainting, while his Anorith was exhausted. However, there were also trainers who had lost all but one of their pokemon due to fighting strong opponents.

 _This really does come down to luck of the draw…_ Reiner thought, frowning.

 _It seems they're starting to realize the hidden challenge of this test…_ Gerard thought to himself, smirking. It isn't just about whose pokemon have more endurance… Some people may be paired up with trainers who are much weaker than they are, and can clear through an entire team with barely any losses… Or two trainers could be in a different league from everyone else but end of fighting, bringing the victor down to one injured pokemon and all but guaranteeing his lost next round… A trainer could have the perfect counter to a single team, even if he is weaker… In the end, it will come down to who has the most luck…

For Reiner's block, in the end, only 8 people managed to make it, one pair having a double knockout.

Reiner's next opponent was very strong, but only had two pokemon left to work with, and both were very weak. Reiner used the two of his pokemon he hadn't yet used, his Electrike and his Metang, and managed to pull out a win without any more losses.

The next opponent was ridiculously easy, having only a single pokemon left that was badly poisoned. Invictus skillfully dispatched the flying type, and Reiner made it to the final round for his block.

"I've only got one pokemon left…" the girl said, frowning. "But I won't give up! I've come too far!"

Her one pokemon left was a Grotle. It was slightly worn down, but still stood strong.

"Invictus, go!" Reiner said, tossing out a pokeball, his Metang emerging. It was a little worn down, but still very strong and ready to fight.

"Seed! Use earth power!" the girl shouted. The Grotle stamped its front legs on the ground, pillars of magma shooting out around Invictus.

"Invictus, use double team!" Reiner ordered. Several copies of Invictus appeared, getting struck by the pillars. Invictus then shot forward like a bullet, hitting the Grotle with a barrage of bullet punches.

"Seed, use crunch!"

Seed bit down on Invictus' arm, the steel pokemon crying out in pain. Invictus swung its arm, sending the Grotle into the air, as energy surged through its body. The energy coated Invictus in an aura of psychic power, and the psychic type flew towards the Grotle.

Invictus hit Seed head on with a zen headbutt, managing to knock the pokemon out.

"No!" the girl cried, returning Seed to its pokeball. She left the stadium in tears, Reiner feeling a twinge of guilt in his heart. He turned his head to see the other battle, where Will was fighting against a trainer's Lairon. Will's pokemon was a Lapras, whose recovery moves had kept Will afloat through most of his battles.

"Ness, use surf," Will ordered. The Lapras raised her head, summoning a tidal wave of water, that crashed down on the steel type and knocked it out.

"Return…" the dejected trainer said, returning his Lairon to its pokeball.

"Well done," Gerard said, clapping. "Both of you showed marvelous effort. However, it's not over yet."

"No…" Will said, frowning, glaring at Elle. Elle slowly closed the book she was reading and stood up, frowning. She walked up onto the stadium and looked at Will.

"I'm ready for my rematch," Will said, frowning.

"…Alright."

"And you are my opponent."

Reiner turned his head to see Austin standing in the stadium, frowning.

Reiner was a little worried. None of his pokemon were in perfect condition, he was just lucky he'd only lost two of them.

"Invictus, you up for it?" Reiner asked. The Metang nodded its body up and down to confirm it was.

"Froslass, go."

"Whisper, go."

The two trainers released the one pokemon they would be using for the round.

Reiner became more than a little worried.

The pokemon was a Chandelure, a pokemon the shape of… well, a chandelier. However, it was also a fire/ghost type.

Not a Metang's strongest matchup.

"Heatwave," Austin ordered. The Chandelure fired a wave of hot air at the Metang.

Invictus disappeared, reappearing behind Whisper and preparing a bullet punch.

A blast of flames erupted from the side of the Chandelure, pushing it out of the way of the attack. Whisper spun around and fired a shadow ball, hitting Invictus head on, knocking it backwards and nearly causing it to faint.

"I watched your pokemon's movements," Austin declared. "It's fast, but my Whisper is still faster."

"Well, how about this?" Reiner asked. Invictus began glowing with blue light, as Whisper did the same. It was frozen in place by the psychic attack, unable to move. Invictus increased the power of the psychic, injuring the Chandelure a little, but not doing any major damage.

Dark energy swirled around Invictus' arm, and it struck Whisper head on with a pursuit attack. However, as it did so, fire began swirling around the ghost type.

"Flame burst," Austin ordered. Flames shot out from around the Chandelure, badly burning Invictus. Invictus collapsed, unconscious.

"Return," Reiner said, returning Invictus to its pokeball. "Okay then… Orion, go!"

Reiner's Electrike emerged, growling at the Chandelure.

"Flamethrower," Austin ordered. Whisper fired a blast of flames from his body, headed straight for the electric type.

"Orion, use light screen!"

The Electrike opened his mouth, a barrier of light appearing in front of him, protecting him from most of the effects of the flames.

"Elec!"

Electricity crackled around Orion, and he released the electricity into a wave around the light screen, hitting the Chandelure.

With Whisper paralyzed, the flames dispersed, and Orion charged around the light screen, covering his body with electricity.

"Not so fast now, are you?" Reiner asked.

"Flamethrower," Austin responed. Whisper fired another blast of flames at Orion, who leapt right into the center of it.

"Electrike!" Orion shouted angrily, glaring through the flames at the Chandelure. He hit Whisper head on, electrocuting him, Whisper falling to the ground.

Orion, however, couldn't withstand the power of the flames, and hit the ground as well, fainting. Even worse, Whisper, injured, slowly floated back up.

"One left…" Reiner said, frowning.

"Scipio, go!" Reiner tossed out his Anorith, injured and exhausted, but still ready to fight. The two pokemon were weakened, but neither one would give in.

"Amusing…" Gerard said, smiling. "What will happen next, I wonder…?"

"Heatwave," Austin ordered. Heat shot out from the Chandelure, but before it could hit the weakened Scipio, he was protected by a barrier of light.

"Awesome, Orion's light screen is still active," Reiner said, grinning. "Now Scipio, use rock polish."

"Anorith!"

Light began shining around the Anorith's body, as his speed increased. As soon as the heat wave attack let up, Scipio scurried towards the Chandelure.

"Your Anorith is fast, but it won't be enough," Austin said. "It can't take another hit."

"Chan!" Whisper fired a shadow ball at the rock type.

"Anorith!" Scipio shouted, refusing to give in. A barrier of green energy appeared in front of it, the shadow ball hitting it head on, and shattering against it.

"Nice use of protect, Scipio!" Reiner said.

"Anorith!" Scipio said, nodding. The protect disappeared, and Scipio immediately took action. Rocks of energy fired at the Chandelure, who, while paralyzed, still managed to avoid them. However, Whisper was not nearly fast enough to avoid the boosted Anorith charging for it.

"Smack down!" Reiner ordered. Scipio jumped up, his claw charging with energy. Scipio hit Whisper in the torso, sending him crashing into the ground. The fire type twitched, before finally losing consciousness.

"…A pity." Austin said, frowning. "Still, it was a good match. Don't worry, I will take what I learned today, and prepare myself for my next battle with you."

Austin returned Whisper to his pokeball, and off the stadium.

Reiner, exhausted, fell to his knees.

"Wow, that was way too much work…" Reiner sighed.

"An!" Scipio scurried up to him, waving his pincers in the way he did when he was excited.

"You have a lot more energy than me, buddy."

It had been a long day, and the sun was starting to set. Everyone who had lost had already returned to their dorms, and Reiner was exhausted.

"It was a good match."

Reiner turned his head to see Gerard walk up to him.

"Really?"

"Indeed," Gerard said, nodding. "Perhaps you didn't have the best matchup, but you still managed to pull through. Not one of your pokemon was defeated without purpose. It would be an honor to have you join out club."

Gerard knelt next to Scipio, and placed his hand on the rock type's head.

"Your Anorith… He's quite full of energy."

"Really?" Reiner asked, surprised.

"Yes," Gerard said, nodding, pushing his glasses up his face. "In fact… I wouldn't be surprised if it would evolve soon."

"Huh…" Reiner turned to look at the excited pokemon beside him, who did seem to be shivering with energy.

"Gerard."

Elle's icy voice caught Reiner's attention.

"We're done here."

When Will fought Elle, he had four pokemon left. By the end of it, the only pokemon still capable of fighting was his Umbreon, who was nearly out of energy.

"Well, not bad, not bad…" Gerard said, smiling. "It seems that we'll have two new members joining. This year… should be quite an enjoyment."

* * *

Indeed, Gerard, indeed.


	18. Chapter 17

Now then, here's another chapter!

Important note: I am currently choosing a few more characters! Yes! I said this would happen, but I didn't expect it to be so soon! Now then… For starters, there are some important points. For one, if I accepted your character already (at the beginning of the story I listed them) YOU CANNOT PARTICIPATE, even if I have not used your character yet.

If you've already submitted a character, but they have not been accepted, then specify that you would like me to use this character instead.

Finally: The characters chosen are eligible for gym leader positions within the school. With that in mind, all characters submitted must be juniors, and must use pokemon of only one type. Because of this, for these submissions only, the number ratio of pokemon stages is being upped from 10 to 12. Also important, these types cannot be used because of reasons. Don't worry that this technically only leaves one position open; not all of the types listed there are gym leaders, but that's a little surprise for later, mwahaha.

Rock, Psychic, Grass, Ice, Fighting, Dragon, Fairy

For the profile, return to the prologue. Also important, unlike the first submission, this submission will NOT be based on first come first serve. I will select characters based on whether or not they are interesting or I think they can further the story outside of their role as gym leaders. Also, I WILL NOT BE TELLING YOU which characters make the cut, and similarly, there is no real deadline date. Consider submissions closed when all eight gym leaders are revealed.

Sonofthetrigod: He most definitely will.

Wildlian: Maybe.

Duskzilla: Of course it's brutal.

Daozang: Well, we'll have to wait and see.

EternalOrigin: Thank you!

My Wunderwaffle iz missin: Most definitely.

Darkhammer: Thanks!

Arcana of the North: Yup, he's pretty cool.

Asdf12345: Sorry, not accepting those kinds of OCs right now, but I like her!

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 17

* * *

A young girl about Kitty's height was standing on a stool, trying to hang a banner up over a stand. The stool was trembling as she stretched up for it. Suddenly, it gave way, and the blonde fell backwards.

She landed square on Nick, the two falling in a heap on the quad grass.

"Sorry, are you okay?" The girl asked, jumping to her feet and helping Nick up.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" Nick said, his face flushing a little.

"Oh, no, do you have a fever?" the girl asked worriedly. "Did I land on a sick person? I'm sorry!"

She pressed her forehead to his, Nick's face going redder.

"I-I'm fine!" Nick said, backing up.

"Okay, good," she said, smiling. She looked at him bashfully. "Um, do you think you can help me with this banner?"

"Banner?" Nick asked.

"Yeah, I'm a little… short for it…" She said sheepishly.

"Well, I'm not much taller, but I guess I could help," Nick said. The two hung up the banner, which read "Pokemon Fight Club."

"'Pokemon Fight Club'?" Nick asked, surprised. For the first time he noticed that she was wearing a karate uniform with a black belt.

"Yeah," she said, nodding. "We spar with our pokemon to train them… We aren't supposed to talk about it though."

"I'm Callie," the girl said, holding out her hand, her blue eyes twinkling shyly.

"Um… Nick," Nick said, shaking the girl's hand.

"Your hand is really sweaty," Callie giggled, wiping it off on her uniform. "Say… if you aren't in a club yet, what do you think about joining us?"

"Sorry, I'm already in a club," Nick said. "The Pokemon Friends Club. I was actually heading to our first meeting of the year."

"…I see…" Callie said, nodding. "Okay then…"

Nick headed off, Callie staring after him.

"Captain!" Callie turned to see three large students in karate uniforms run up. "We found that stepladder you asked for!"

"It's fine…" Callie said, her face tinting pink. "Besides that… I just found something that would be interesting…"

* * *

"Sorry I'm late…" Nick said, running up to the group. They were gathered in a clearing surrounded by trees near the edge of campus. Eli wasn't exaggerating when she said there weren't a lot of members. Kitty, Blake, Cynthia, Serefina, and herself were the only ones there.

"No problem," Serefina said. "Our president isn't even here."

"He won't be coming," Eli said, shaking her head. "Anyway, I think a good idea, to start with, is for each of us to introduce each other to our pokemon."

"Excuse me!" Everyone's heads turned to see Callie standing at the edge of the clearing, the Pokemon Fight Club behind her.

"Callie?" Nick asked, confused.

"Hi…" Callie said, waving at him, blushing.

"Um, who are you?" Serefina asked, walking up to them.

"…" Callie looked her body up and down.

"GODDAMNIT!" Callie exclaimed, running away with tears in her eyes.

"Captain!" One of the fight club members ran after her, the rest standing there awkwardly.

Callie walked back, wiping her face, glaring at Serefina. Then she noticed Kitty.

Pushing past Serefina, Callie wrapped her arms around Kitty and pulled her into a big hug.

"A fellow shortie…" Callie cried, wiping her eyes. "You understand the hardship!"

Kitty, embarrassed, simply turned red.

"Anyways, I'm here to challenge you! If I win, then Nick gets to join the Pokemon Fight Club!"

"Wh-what?" Serefina asked, confused.

"You're the captain of the Pokemon Fight Club?" Eli asked, surprised. "But you're just a kid."

"I'm a junior," Callie glared.

"Seriously?"

Everyone had gathered around the strange girl, and were equally confused.

"Not a chance…" Eli said, shaking her head. "We can't afford to give up any members to you. You have enough people, anyway!"

"I don't want any of these big beefy guys!" Callie said, frowning. She glanced at Nick, blushing, looking down. "I… I'd like someone a little cuter… more shy…"

"Aw, how cute…" Cynthia gushed. "Our little virgin has a girlfriend!"

Now there were two people turning red.

"I'm with Eli…" Serefina said, frowning. "We can't let go of any members right now…"

"Fine then, fight me for him!" Callie said, frowning.

"My pokemon aren't good at fighting," Serefina said, shaking her head.

"Neither are mine," Eli added.

"I'll do it!" Cynthia said, smirking. "I'll take you down easy."

"Are you sure?" Callie asked. "I'm pretty strong you know. I don't often tell people this, but I'm actually one of the shichibukai."

 _That's a lie…_ Everyone else thought.

"What a coincidence," Cynthia said, smiling. "I happen to be one of the Yonko, myself."

 _Why are you escalating?_

"Well, I tamed the Nine Tailed Fox with my bare hands."

"I defeated Majin Buu."

"I used the Death Note to become the god of the new world."

"Well I-"

"Cynthia," Nick interrupted.

"What now?" Cynthia asked.

"I'll fight her."

"Really?" Callie asked, her eyes sparkling excitedly.

"No!" Eli said, shaking her head. "He'll just throw the match!"

"I won't!" Nick said, shaking his head. "All my friends are here, after all!"

"Fine, but if I win, you have to join the Pokemon Fight Club!"

"Wait, what do we get if we win?" Cynthia asked.

"Well, Nick, if you win… then I'll go on a date with you…"

"Um, what?"

"Let's go!" Callie said, smiling. "How many pokemon?"

"Um, three?" Nick asked.

"Sure, works for me!" Callie said, smiling. "I'm just happy I get to fight you!"

"Abbie, go!" Nick tossed out a pokeball, which his Absol emerged from.

"Whoa, what a cool pokemon!" Kitty said, surprised.

"Not bad!" Callie said, grinning. "Champie, go!" Callie tossed out a pokeball, which a Pancham emerged from, smirking.

"Comet punch!" Callie ordered. Champie ran towards the Absol, letting loose a barrage of punches.

"Double team!" Nick ordered. Several copies of Abbie appeared, confusing the Pancham.

"Champie, try a thunderpunch!" Champie nodded, electricity crackling through his paw. He struck the ground, electricity surging out and knocking through the clones, hitting Abbie.

Abbie leapt back, wind raising up around her. She ran towards Champie, swinging the blade on her forehead and firing a blast of wind that knocked the fighting type pokemon into the air.

"Night slash!" Nick ordered. Abbie ran towards Champie and leapt into the air, swinging her blade and releasing a slash of dark energy that struck the fighting type. Champie hit the ground, but immediately leapt to his feet, excited.

Abbie landed in front of him, whipping up another tornado around her body. She raised her claw and hit Champie in the chest, knocking him into the air. Blades of wind shot out from the tornado and collided with Champie, badly injuring him. The fighting type hit a tree and slid to the ground, unconscious.

"Oh, poor guy…" Callie said, returning her Pancham.

"Yeah, way to go, Nick!" Cynthia cheered, grinning.

"Okay, let's go, Jania!" Callie said, releasing a Mienshao from her pokeball. The ermine pokemon stood proud, rubbing her sleeves together.

"Another fighting type?" Nick asked, surprised.

"Yup!" Callie chirped. "I'm a fighting type specialist!"

Abbie formed another tornado, flinging blades of wind at the fighting type.

"Wide guard!" Callie ordered. Jania held her hands up, forming a wide barrier protecting herself from the blades.

Jania leapt into the air and spun around, shooting towards Abbie. Abbie jumped out of the way and swung her blade at the fighting type, but Jania whipped her arm and blocked it. She leapt up and kicked Abbie in the side of the head, skillfully flipping back and landing on the ground as Abbie skidded across the grass.

"Alright, go, go!" Callie cheered. Jania ran towards Abbie, who charged at her as well.

Jania leapt into the air and swung her leg towards the dark type, but Abbie ducked her head and dodged out of the way, raking into Jania's back with her claws.

Jania crashed into the grass and immediately rose to her feet, swinging her fist and hitting Abbie in the face.

Energy drained from Abbie's body as Jania healed some of her injuries. She then leapt into the air, spinning around, and landing with an axe kick on Abbie's side, knocking her unconscious.

"Return," Nick said, returning Abbie to her pokeball. "Okay, Charmeleon, go!"

Nick's Charmeleon emerged, flames spurting from his mouth.

"Jania!" Jania jumped back, away from the Charmeleon right before a burst of flames shot out of his mouth.

Jania dodged the embers, and leapt towards Charmeleon, catching him in the jaw with a drain punch.

"Dragon rush!" Nick ordered. Dragonic energy surged through Charmeleon's claws, and he charged at Jania, swinging his claws. However, Jania quickly dodged this attack too, jumping into the air. She swung her leg at Charmeleon, but he quickly dodged, turning his head and releasing a blast of flames.

Jania jumped out of the pillar of flames, and swung her arm, catching Charmeleon in the face and knocking him back.

"Aerial ace!" Nick ordered, Charmeleon disappearing. He reappeared behind Jania, hitting her in the back with his claws. The fighting type cried out in pain, spinning her leg around and kicking Charmeleon in the stomach.

Charmeleon skidded backwards, clutching his chest, Jania jumping into the air and hitting him in the jaw with a high jump kick, knocking him unconscious.

"Return," Nick said, returning Charmeleon to his pokeball. "Okay, Mankey, go!"

A Mankey emerged, stamping his feet excitedly.

"You have a Mankey?" Callie asked, excited. "So cool!"

Jania charged at the fighting type and swung her fist, Mankey quickly dodging. He swung his paw, hitting Jania in the forehead with a karate chop.

"Power-up punch!" Nick ordered. Mankey pulled his paw back and hit Jania in the stomach, his attack power rising.

"Yeah, power-up punch is a move that increases in power with each hit," Blake said, nodding. "Not a bad move."

"So cool! You're perfect for the Fight Club!" Callie said. "Jania, she'll win it for me, just you watch!"

"Not quite, my Mankey is pretty strong," Nick said.

"…Jania, aura sphere."

Energy coursed through Jania's hand, and she fired it in a blast of energy, hitting Mankey in the stomach, knocking him unconscious.

"Yes!" Callie cheered, excited. "I did it! I won!"

"Darn it!" Eli said, frowning.

"I guess I lost…" Nick said, shocked, returning Mankey to his pokeball.

"Hey!" Callie skipped over to him, beaming. "Aren't you happy? You get to join our club!"

"Um…" Nick glanced over at the others.

"Magnificent."

Everyone turned their heads to see another student walk up. He had wavy blonde hair and a red armband, as well as cool blue eyes. His uniform was neat, and he had a blanket wrapped around his shoulders, a Woobat perched on it.

"Rafe!" Callie said, running over to him, giving him a big hug. "Where have you been?"

"Well, I thought I should come back before classes started…" the boy said, chuckling.

"Um, classes have been going for a few weeks now…" Callie said, shaking her head.

"…Oh, I see…" Rafe said sheepishly.

"Who's that?" Blake asked.

"That's our club president," Eli sighed. "He's got this bad habit of living outside, instead of in the dorms."

"Well Eli, if I lived in the dorms I wouldn't be able to spend as much time with pokemon," Rafe said, patting his Woobat on the head. "They have so many fascinating things to say."

Blake narrowed his eyes.

"You can understand pokemon?" Blake asked suspiciously.

"Not exactly," Rafe said, shaking his head. "I just like hanging around them. It doesn't mean I know what they're saying, sadly enough."

"Okay, Nick, let's head back…" Callie said, wrapping her arm around his and pulling him with her.

"…Well, there goes Nick…" Blake sighed.

"I can't believe we lost a member already…" Eli sighed, sitting down in the grass and wrapping her arms around her knees.

"Ah well," Rafe sighed.

He pulled the blanket off of his shoulders and spread it out. He sat down, opening his bag, and pulled out a small tea set and a folding table.

"Eli, would you please get us some hot water?"

"President, is now really the time to be drinking tea?"

"I always think that a nice cup of tea is worthwhile."

Eli sighed, and walked off to go get some water from the nearby lake.

"I have an idea!" Cynthia said, smiling.

"What idea?" Blake asked, frowning.

"We can do a Challenge Battle."

"Challenge Battle?" Blake asked, confused.

"…Look at the student guide…" Cynthia sighed.

Blake reached into his bag and pulled out his guidebook.

'A student may challenge any other student to a Challenge Battle. A Challenge Battle must be supervised by a member of the faculty. Challenge Battles may be fought for points, or for an agreed upon wager with teacher permission. The Challenger selects the type of battle, as well as the number of Pokemon fighting.'

"…Cool."

"But how do we know she'll accept the Challenge Battle?" Serefina asked.

"Huh?"

"Accepting a Challenge Battle is up to the challenged student. If you don't offer them something worth fighting for they are not likely to accept the agreement," Rafe informed them.

"Oh, man, you're right…" Cynthia said, frowning. "Then we have to find something that she'd be willing to risk Nick's membership for."

"Like what?" Blake asked.

Cynthia put her hand on her chin and thought for a while. Then, her eyes met Kitty's eyes, and her mouth turned upwards into a cruel smirk.

"I just had a brilliant idea…"

Kitty realized a second to late and turned to run, but Cynthia grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"…Um…" Kitty looked up at Cynthia, her eyes tearing up in fear.

"Come on now, be a good little kitty and help out your friends from the club, okay?"

"…Poor girl…" Serefina and Blake said as Cynthia grabbed her by the collar and pulled her from the clearing.

"I'll go find a teacher to supervise the match, you go with them and make sure nothing too bad happens," Serefina said.

Blake sighed and followed after the two of them as Serefina headed off.

"…Ah… such a peaceful day…" Rafe said, petting the Woobat sitting on his lap.

"Okay president, I brought your water…" Eli sighed, walking back into the clearing, holding a thermos. "I'm sorry I don't have a fire type to heat it up."

"No, no, I can just have my Elfuria heat it for me," Rafe said, releasing his Delphox from her pokeball to heat the water up.

"…So where did everyone go?" Eli asked, noticing that there was no one else there.

"They went to go challenge my sister to a Challenge Battle, offering that cute cat girl up as a wager against getting the other boy back."

"Your sister? Oh, right! I totally forgot you had a sister… So that girl Callie was your sister?"

Eli's eyes widened as she realized something.

"That's right… she's your sister… I forgot…"

"Yes, that's correct."

"But didn't you say that your sister just joined the group you're a part of?"

"…Yes."

"Then that means she…"

"…Is one of the eight gym leaders like me, yes."

"ISN'T THAT BAD?!" Eli cried. "They're about to challenge one of the gym leaders to a Challenge Battle!"

"…Ah, the tea is ready," Rafe said, picking up the tea. "Would you like some?"

"Oh, sure," Eli said, sitting down at the table next to him.

…

"Is that your only reaction?"

"...You expect me to panic?"

"We're about to lose another club member…"

"Elizabeth…" Rafe said, sipping from his teacup.

"…Don't sweat the small stuff."

 _I'm sweating it…_

* * *

So, will they manage to win the fight against Callie? We'll have to find out!


	19. Chapter 18

Time for the showdown with Callie. Sorry the update took so long, I was dealing with some plagiarism issues over a certain character submission, and didn't want to update until it resolved itself. But don't worry, it was just a misunderstanding, and everything is resolved (for everyone's sake, I will mention no names)

DS49: No problem.

Sonofthetrigod: Well, Callie is the last planned female gym leader, and the other two were… well, I wanted her to be a bit more likeable.

Wildlian: Maybe.

Duskzilla: It's not about height as much. It's about other things. Let's just say that short people are less likely to be as "adult" as Serefina.

Daozang: I thought it would be a "Cynthia" thing to do. She's likely to get more evil as the story progresses (spoilers).

Arcana of the North: I like her quite a bit.

Phantom-Jester: Maybe. Maybe not.

Regiinator: I've decided that Kitty is now officially a stray kitten in the body of a girl. I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT IT, MWAHAHA!

XxbooberryxX: A gym leader OC would be most welcome, please. Otherwise, there's kind of a long line.

My Wunderwaffle iz missin: Most definitely.

Darkhammer: Thanks!

Asdf12345: Sorry, not accepting those kinds of OCs right now, but I like her!

Literalshark: Thanks!

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 18

* * *

"Wow, Nick, your Mankey is so cute!" Callie said, running her hands through his fur. They were currently seated on the floor of a large dojo on campus, the official club room of the Pokemon Fight Club.

"Um, thanks…" Nick said.

"Come on, Nick, no need to be shy…" Callie said, siding up to him and looking up at him demurely. "So, have you ever done any martial arts before?"

"Yeah, I guess…" Nick said, nodding.

"I knew it, you're in much better shape than I thought you were…" Callie said, blushing, running her hand over his arm.

Suddenly, a plinking sound came from their window. Callie ran over to look out, seeing Cynthia, Blake, and Kitty standing on the ground beneath them.

Kitty had a collar around her neck and was seated in a cardboard box, looking like she was about to cry.

"Hey, Pokemon Fight Club!" Cynthia called out through a microphone. "Send out the virgin! We have a volcano god in need of a sacrifice!"

"WHAT?!" Blake exclaimed. Cynthia put her hand over the microphone and shushed him.

"Over your dead body!" Callie shouted back.

"We're challenging you to a Challenge Battle for Nick!"

"We refuse!" Callie declared. "You don't have anything we want!"

"Oh really?" Cynthia asked. "What about her?"

Cynthia pointed at Kitty's trembling form, smirking.

"Why do we want her?" Callie asked.

"Oh, I'm not offering her for trade…" Cynthia said, smirking. "You'll fight us for Nick… Or else we're going to be forced to leave this poor little kitty outside…"

Everyone stared at Cynthia in shock. Kitty went a paler shade than she had thought possible.

"Poor little kitty…" Cynthia continued. "No way she could ever survive outside in the wilderness on her own… she'd become Pokemon Food in a second… And if not, the rains would come, and the poor little thing would die of the cold…"

 _You know she isn't a real cat right?_ Blake asked himself.

Kitty looked like she was going to cry.

"Meow," Cynthia whispered.

"Me-mew… meow…" Kitty cried.

"There, hear that? That's the sound of a poor little kitty crying! Are you really going to abandon her like that?"

"Meeooow…"

"Cynthia, this is a new low," Blake said.

"Oh, come on, I'm not going to do it," Cynthia chuckled, covering the microphone. "Besides, you're the one who wants to get Nick back, right?"

"Captain…" the members of the Fight Club were starting to pity the poor girl.

"Fine!" Callie shouted. "We'll accept your stupid challenge if you promise to leave that poor girl with us if we win!"

"And if we win, we get Nick back. Fair enough."

"Okay then! Let's begin!" Callie jumped from the window, flipping through the air and landing on the ground in front of Cynthia.

"Wait, first, this won't be a normal battle."

"Huh?" Callie asked, confused.

"We're going to do a double battle," Cynthia said, smirking.

"A double battle?" Blake asked, confused.

"A double battle is a battle where both trainers use four pokemon, and send out two pokemon to fight at once against their opponent's two pokemon."

"…That's more math than I've ever seen you do."

"Wait, so two… and two more… but we use four pokemon each…" Callie said, counting on her fingers.

"See, she might be good with one on one, but double battles are the specialty of the Hoenn region, my home region," Cynthia said, smiling.

"Whatever, fine, it's all too confusing!" Callie shouted.

"Sounds good."

"Okay, Champie, Jania, let's go!" Callie tossed out two pokeballs, which her Pancham and her Mienshao emerged from.

"Ruby, Tristan, go."

Cynthia's Mawile and Breloom came out.

"Interesting…" Blake said, surprised. "This is the first double battle I've seen."

"Tristan, use spore!" Cynthia shouted immediately. Green spores shot out from Tristan's collar, covering Jania, causing her to fall asleep.

"Wait, what?" Callie asked.

Cynthia's evil grin widened.

"Ruby, use play rough. Tristan, use mach punch."

Tristan shot forward like a bullet, hitting Champie in the jaw, knocking him into the air, Ruby hitting him with a barrage of punches, knocking him into the ground.

"Champie!" Callie cried out as the two pokemon beat on the Pancham some more, knocking him unconscious.

"My pokemon might not be able to win in a one on one fight, but if I turn it into a two on one, then it's more than easy."

"Ah, so spore puts one to sleep, and then the two of them beat up the remaining pokemon," Blake said.

"Exactly."

This was the underhanded method Cynthia planned to use in order to win.

"…You're not bad," Callie said. "Champie, return."

"Let's just keep it up like this," Cynthia said, smiling.

"Ferno, go." Callie tossed out a pokeball, which an Infernape emerged from, howling in anger.

"…Ah."

Cynthia's plan seems to have met with an unfortunate error.

"Maw…" Ruby growled, and ran towards the Infernape.

"Tristan!" Cynthia cried.

Tristan nodded, opening his mouth, firing a blast of bullet seeds at Ferno.

"Flamethrower!" Callie ordered. Ferno's fiery mane burst up, and he opened his mouth, releasing a blast of flames, incinerating the seeds.

Ruby jumped out of the way, as Tristan ran forward, hitting Ferno in the face, knocking him backwards.

Ruby jumped at the opportunity, using her hair fangs to bite down on Ferno's leg, swinging him into the ground.

Ferno jumped to his feet, fired up, flames bursting passionately from his hair and his fist.

"Maw!" Ruby shouted, charging at the Infernape. Tristan, however, swung his tail out and prevented her from advancing.

"Ferno, use fire punch!" Callie ordered. Ferno nodded, the flames around his hands shooting up until they covered his arms entirely.

"Infernape!" Ferno shouted, charging at the two pokemon, his arms spinning wildly as flames shot from them.

"Dodge it!" Cynthia cried. Tristan skillfully ducked around the flames, head lowered, charging at Ferno. Ruby, not as agile as the grass type, took a few hits before getting to safety.

Ferno raised both fists aimed straight at Tristan, whose eyes narrowed.

The fists collided with Tristan, who cried out in pain. As Tristan was launched back, however, he swung his tail, hitting Ferno in the stomach.

"Infernape!" Ferno cried out in pain as the counter attack hit its mark, knocking the wind out of the fire pokemon as he collapsed to the ground. Tristan skidded across the grass, beating away the flames, rising to his feet shakily.

"Tristan, are you okay?" Cynthia asked worried.

"Bre!" Tristan said, nodding confidently, before wincing in pain.

"He's burned," Kitty said softly.

"Okay, Tristan, return for now," Cynthia said, holding up her pokeball.

"Bre!" Tristan said, shaking his head, glaring at the Infernape who was now rising to his feet.

"Flamethrower!" Callie ordered. Ferno opened his mouth, another blast of flames curling straight for the grass type.

"Breloom!" Tristan shouted, ducking under the flames and charging forwards at the Infenape. Tristan hit Ferno in the chest with a headbutt attack, flipping him into the air.

"Ferno, use flame wheel," Callie ordered. While in the air, Ferno curled into a ball and began spinning, the mane of fire on his head curling around his body until her became a wheel of fire. Similarly with before, blasts of fire began shooting out, raining down on the two pokemon.

Tristan once again skillfully evaded the flames, as did Ruby, who had quickly gotten used to them. Ferno hit the ground fast and immediately shot for Tristan, who quickly jumped out of the way, avoiding the powerful attack.

Ferno pulled to a stop, panting, and spun around, glaring at the grass type angrily.

"Mawile!" Ruby shouted, angrily charging towards the fire pokemon.

"Bre!" Tristan exclaimed, running after her.

"Fire punch again!" Callie ordered. Ferno nodded, running at the Mawile, his fist covered in a blaze of flames.

"Breloom!" Tristan exclaimed, jumping between the two pokemon. Taking the full brunt of the fire punch attack for his teammate, Tristan cried out in pain. However, before he succumbed to the powerful attack, he once again struck a successful counter, this time with his fist, knocking Ferno into the ground.

Tristan crumped to the ground, unconscious.

"Return," Cynthia said, returning Tristan to his pokeball.

Ferno rose up once more enraged, flames dancing angrily around him.

"Oh, shit," Blake said, frowning.

"What?" Cynthia asked.

"I think you just triggered Blaze."

"What?!" Cynthia asked again, still confused.

"It's an ability that some fire type pokemon have," Blake explained. "When they're badly injured, the power of their fire type moves increases by a lot."

"Oh, lovely."

"FERNAPE!" Ferno shouted, flames erupting around him, lighting the grass on fire.

"Oh yeah, we're gonna get in trouble for this," Blake sighed, Kitty shivering in fear.

In a few seconds, the battlefield had turned into a picture of hell as flames danced around them.

"Elise, go!" Cynthia said, tossing out a pokeball, which her Tailow emerged from.

Ruby once again charged at the fire pokemon without thinking for a second about the consequences. However, this time, something was wrong.

"Ferno?! What are you doing? Move!" Callie exclaimed.

"Fer…nape…" Ferno gasped, trying to move, but his limbs were feeling heavy and he could barely stand.

"It's Effect Spore!" Cynthia realized almost at the same time Callie did. "Infernape's last attack must have triggered Tristan's Effect Spore, and now he's paralyzed!"

Ruby hit Ferno in the stomach with a fairy-aura infused fist, the fire type stumbling back in pain.

"Okay, Elise, use wing attack!" Cynthia ordered. Elise shot forwards, head lowered and wings raised, shooting straight at the fire type. However, a powerful blow struck her, knocking her out of the air.

"Elise!" Cynthia cried out.

"…Tail…" Elise gasped out, as Jania, now awake, landed on the ground.

"Perfect timing, Jania," Callie said, grinning. "I guess now we're even, huh?"

Ferno rose to his feet, fire blazing around him, as Jania took a fighting stance.

"This really backfired on you, didn't it?" Blake saked.

"NOT the time, Blake!" Cynthia shouted.

"Ferno, use mach punch!" Callie ordered. Ferno shot towards Ruby like a bullet, fist raised.

"Elise, protect Ruby!" Cynthia ordered. Elise flapped her wings, returning to the sky, and darted in front of Ruby, a barrier appearing between her and Ferno.

"Quick guard?" Callie asked, irritated. "How irritating."

Ruby, not even needing to be ordered, hit Ferno in the chest with a powerful play rough attack, the fire type crying out in pain and falling to the ground, unconscious. The flames died down (though the field was still burning) and Callie returned Ferno to his pokeball.

"Okay, Harriet, go!" Callie said, tossing out a pokeball, which a Hawlucha emerged from. The Hawlucha touched down on the ground, holding her arms out victoriously, and then leapt up into the air.

"Jania, aura sphere," Callie ordered. Jania formed a sphere of energy in the palms of her hands and fired it at Ruby, knocking her off of her feet. Elise, meanwhile, took to the skies to engage the fighting/flying pokemon.

"Elise, double team!" Cynthia ordered. "Ruby, use bite!"

Elise created several copies of herself, flying around the Hawlucha. Ruby, meanwhile, was trying to bite down on the Mienshao; however, she was far too swift, easily keeping out of reach of the Mawile.

Jania whipped her arm forwards, striking Ruby in back, knocking her off of her feet. Ruby rose, irritated, and flipped her hair, trying desperately to bite down on the fighting type.

Harriet landed on the ground, and quickly jumped into the air again, aiming for one of the Tailow. The bird was, unfortunately, only a duplicate.

"Tailow!" Elise cried, striking Harriet in the back with a wing attack, the fighting type crying out in pain and landing on the ground.

"Elise, go help Ruby!" Cynthia ordered. Elise nodded, and shot towards Jania.

"Harriet, use aerial ace!" Callie ordered. Harriet rose to her feet, nodding, and leapt into the air. She disappeared, and appeared in front of Elise, hitting her in the neck with a lariat strike, flinging her into the ground. Immediately, Harriet flipped, floating above her.

"Great! Now finish her off with a Seth Rollins-style phoenix splash!" Callie cheered. Harriet flipped in the air, turning and crashing towards the flying type with her signature flying press attack.

"Ruby, use sucker punch!" Cynthia ordered. Ruby shot forwards, slamming into Harriet, knocking her out of the air and protecting Elise.

Harriet rose to her feet, angry.

"Hah! Screw you, I'm John Cena, bitch!" Cynthia said, smirking.

However, Ruby's triumph was short lived, as by protecting Elise, she inadvertently took her eyes off of Jania.

Jania hit her in the back with a drain punch, Ruby crying out in pain as energy was drained from her body. She turned and whipped her fangs around towards the fighting type, but Jania had already jumped out of the way. Ruby quickly found herself stuck between the two fighting types, trying to protect Elise.

Elise flapped her wings rising to her feet.

"Elise, use agility!" Elise flapped her wings quickly, rising in speed, charging at Jania.

Harriet charged in an attempt to follow her, but Ruby's fangs shot out and grabbed her by the feet, flipping Harriet over her shoulder and slamming her into the ground.

"Jania, use drain punch," Callie ordered.

"Mien!" Jania said, nodding, swinging her fist at Elise. Elise, however, was too quick for her, dodging the attack and slamming in Jania.

Elise pulled back, panting, as Jania gasped in pain. She rose to her feet, badly injured.

"Geez, what kind of attack was that?!" Callie exclaimed. "Jania's nearly down!"

"Elise just hit you with her endeavor attack, that's all," Cynthia said, smiling proudly. "Think of it as a variation on that Blaze skill of yours."

Elise, however, was starting to tire, having taken quite the beating. Ruby wasn't in very good shape, either.

"Jania, let's finish this one off," Callie ordered. "Hit her with your reversal!" Energy surged through Jania's body and shot at Elise, who was far too exhausted to avoid the move, having put all of her energy into that last attack.

The reversal attack struck Elise, who cried out in pain and crumpled to the ground.

"Return," Cynthia said, returning Elise to her pokeball. "Okay then! Rose, let's go!"

Cynthia released her Ralts, who glanced at the two powerful fighting types. However, she didn't seem afraid.

"Jania, go!" Callie ordered. The Mienshao jumped into the air, aiming a high jump kick at Rose. However, Ruby, having shaken off Harriet, ran in front of her, taking the brunt of the attack.

"Ralts!" Rose cried, holding her hands up, releasing a wave of healing energy, restoring a good portion of Ruby's health. Both of Ruby's mouths smile, and she spun her fangs, biting down on Jania's leg.

Finally getting ahold of her, Ruby was not going to let go. She slammed Jania into the ground and moved on top of her, striking her in the chest with a powerful play rough attack.

Harriet leapt into the air, charging at Ruby before she could finish off the Mienshao. However, Rose opened her mouth, releasing a wave of sound that hit the fighting type. Harriet clenched her ears as the fairy type move struck, crashing into the ground.

As Ruby landed the finishing blow on the Mienshao, Rose in turn released a pulse of psychic energy at Harriet, knocking her unconscious as well.

"I… I don't believe it…" Callie said, shocked, staring at her two unconscious pokemon.

"…Yeah, me neither…" Cynthia said, surprised. "…Er, I mean, of course! This was exactly what I had in mind! Now you know just how powerful my pokemon really are!"

"…Wow, you won in a battle style you specialize in with pokemon that had type advantages over an opponent who had no idea how to fight double battles," Blake said, grinning. "Very impressive."

Cynthia stormed over to him, irritated.

"Geez, just congratulate me on defeating a junior! Something YOU couldn't do, if I recall!"

"That was so cool!" Kitty said, her eyes glittering in admiration. "But…"

Kitty looked out over the grassy field, which was less grass and more burning field of smoke.

"Oh, shit."

All of a sudden, rain began pouring down across the battlefield.

"What the-?" Cynthia asked, looking around.

"I should have known it would be you guys!"

Cynthia and Blake turned to see Sango walk up to them, smiling. She was dressed in a blue and grey uniform, styled similarly to a police or military uniform. Floating beside her was a blue pokemon shaped like a drop of rain.

"Sango?" Cynthia asked, surprised. "What are you doing here? And why are you wearing… THAT?"

"I'm here to clean up your mess!" Sango said, frowning. "I had to stop that fire from spreading due to someone's use of stupid fire moves!"

"Hey, don't look at me, it was her fault!" Cynthia said, frowning, pointing at Callie.

"She's right."

Erik, wearing a similar uniform, walked up to the group.

"Sarge!" Sango said.

"I saw the whole thing," Erik said, frowning. "Callie, as a junior, you should know better than to do something like that."

Erik scribbled something down on a note pad, and ripped it off, handing the paper to Callie.

"A citation for using reckless pokemon moves on an unsanctioned battlefield. The bill for repairing the grounds will be deducted from the funding of the Pokemon Fight Club."

Callie's face went pale as she stared at the sum on the paper.

"Hey, Sango, did you get a new pokemon?" Blake asked.

"Oh, this?" Sango asked, smiling. "That's enough, Silver!"

The rain dispersed, sunlight shining through, and the raindrop shaped pokemon transformed, revealing it to have been her Castform, Silver.

"Oh, yeah, my professor said something about Castform changing forms with the weather," Blake said, nodding. "This is the first time I've ever seen it, though."

"Speaking of form changing, what do you think of my new outfit?" Sango asked, spinning around. "I'm officially a member of Campus Security!"

"Volunteer," Erik corrected.

"Yes, officially a student volunteer for Campus Security. So, what do you think?"

"Does it come with a funny little hat?" Cynthia giggled.

Sango glared at her.

"Now then, I almost forgot…" Cynthia turned to Callie, who was still in shock over the bill. "Give us our club member back!"

"…" Callie looked like she was about to cry, but nodded, waving up at her club members.

A few seconds later, Nick walked out of the building, two large members beside him.

"Sorry, I guess this is good-bye…" Callie said, looking down sadly. "It would have been really fun, though…"

"Well, um, if you don't mind…" Nick said, looking away shyly, "I guess, sometimes, I could come over and train… you know, if I'm not busy with my club activities or anything…"

"Really?!" Callie asked, her entire face lighting up with joy. "You mean it?! You promise?! For real?!"

"Well, I mean, yeah, if I have free time, I mean, I guess I could…"

"Yay!" Callie cheered, leaping up to hug Nick tightly.

"Hey, look a happy ending, I guess?" Blake said, still not really sure that Cynthia's "win" was deserved.

"Yeah, well, what did you expect? It's Christmas," Cynthia shrugged.

"…It's September."

"Shut up and don't think about it."

* * *

Indeed. Merry Christmas/other holiday you might celebrate. Or just getting time off of work. Or school.


	20. Chapter 19

Well, I got less reviews than I thought I would, but that's what happens when you make a chapter on Christmas. Sorry this took so long.

Sonofthetrigod: Thanks, and sorry to see you go.

Duskzilla: Thanks!

Daozang: Thanks, I like hearing that I get characters right.

Deant33: Fair enough.

BloodStarGeneral: Well, the list is still in the making, but we'll see them eventually.

Darkhammer: Thanks!

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 19

* * *

"Okay, students!" Professor Green declared, clapping her hands together. "Now that Club Day is finally over, it's time for us to get back to some activities!"

Everyone was a little exhausted after the long break, Blake in particular rather tired.

"Now then!" Professor Green pulled a blanket off of the table in front of her, revealing a pile of green pokeballs.

"What are those?" Cynthia asked, confused.

"These are a special ball made by the school," the professor explained. "They act similar to pokeballs, but have a modified capture rate to make it possible to capture pokemon without injuring them as much. Today, you'll each take one of these pokeballs to catch a pokemon."

Sango immediately raised her hand.

"…Yes?"

"I don't believe in catching pokemon."

"Bite me," Professor Green said. "Any other questions?"

Sango kept her hand raised.

The professor pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation.

"Okay, look, these pokeballs are specially made for this class; unlike normal pokeballs, they don't register the trainer who uses them. Any pokemon caught with them will still be a wild pokemon, and won't listen to any orders you give. Does that satisfy you?"

"…Fine…" Sango said, looking down, frowning.

"Now then, this lesson was going to be about capturing pokemon, but I decided we should make it a competition!" Professor Green said, smiling. "I've got a list here ranking the pokemon that can be found outside on their capture difficulty level, so the trainer who can catch the hardest to catch pokemon at the highest level will win a prize!"

"What about using our own pokemon?" Julia asked.

"Yes, you'll each be able to bring one pokemon with you to capture the wild pokemon. But remember, you can only capture one wild pokemon, so make your choice wisely."

Sango raised her hand again, Professor Green pinching the bridge of her nose.

"…OKAY. If SOME PEOPLE who DON'T WANT TO USE THEIR OWN POKEMON are in this class, then THEY CAN BORROW A POKEMON FROM A FRIEND, okay?"

Sango's arm dropped.

As the class each grabbed a pokeball and headed out, Blake and Cynthia were deciding which pokemon would be the best for them to use.

"I'll go with Tristan," Cynthia decided. "His spore attacks will make it really easy to catch the best pokemon!"

"Hm…" Blake thought, frowning.

"I think Roden is a little too strong, he might just end up knocking out every pokemon I come across…" Julia sighed.

"I know, it's hard to choose a pokemon just for capturing others, I use my pokemon for fighting too much."

"Right? Mine are all really strong, I'm afraid they might knock out all the wild pokemon."

"Hey, Blake, can I ask a favor?" Sango asked, running up to him.

"You want to borrow a pokemon?"

Sango nodded.

"Sure, I guess… I'm not entirely sure about what pokemon I'm going to be using, though."

"That's fine, I'll just take whoever."

"Okay." Blake reached into his pocket and tossed out a pokeball, his Solosis emerging.

"Aw, it's the cute one!" Sango said, reaching down to pick up the cute green blob and nuzzling her face against it.

"Yeah, Uni gets along with others okay, but she can be a little shy."

"Okay, I'll take good care of her!"

"So which one are you gonna use?" Julia asked.

"I guess I'll use Weiss," Blade decided.

Once they got to the field, Julia immediately headed off on her own, leaving the four by themselves.

"I wonder what happened to Reiner," Blake wondered.

"He said he wouldn't be able to come to class today, he had something to do with his club," Nick informed them.

"Darn, that sucks," Sango sighed.

"He really hasn't been the same since he joined that gym leader club of his," Blake agreed.

"Guys, let's not focus on that!" Cynthia said, shaking her head. "It's time to get capturing!"

"Okay, Uni, let's do our best, okay?" Sango asked, Uni bobbing up and down in agreement.

"Why isn't this working?!" Sango demanded as another wild pokemon knocked Uni over and ran into the bushes.

"Maybe you should stick to something easier to capture," Cynthia suggested. "Like a Magikarp."

"Oh shut up."

"Yeah, Uni isn't very good at fighting," Blake said apologetically.

"No, no, it's fine…" Sango sighed. "I'm just surprised you would have her on your team since she isn't that strong."

"Well, she was a gift from a friend, so I've been looking after her as a favor."

"Oh, I see…" Sango said, nodding. "Still… will she listen to me? Since you got her from someone else?"

"Yeah, sure, she's really well behaved."

"Okay then, Uni, do you think we can go find a pokemon to capture?"

Uni bobbed up and down again, Sango heading off to go find more pokemon to capture.

"I guess she doesn't want to fail in front of us," Cynthia said, shrugging. "Still, I guarantee we'll be able to find some good pokemon to capture, especially with my Tristan's spore!"

"Bre!" Tristan said, nodding.

Suddenly, the grass began rustling, Tristan's head jerking around.

"Yeah, go for it!" Cynthia cheered. A Raticate jumped out of the grass and ran away, Tristan bounding after it.

Spores shot out from Tristan's collar, coating the Raticate and putting it to sleep.

Cynthia ran over to it, and checked the list she copied on her phone.

"Oh well, it's a little too low rarity for my tastes, so no thanks. Either of you want to catch it."

"I'm good," Blake said, shaking his head.

"Abbie should be able to find me something a little more rare, so I'll be fine," Nick said, releasing his Absol.

The trio continued walking through the grassy field, arriving at the edge of the forest.

"I think I'll stay out here," Nick decided. "Abbie is really good in larger areas due to her speed."

Cynthia and Blake continued into the forest, where they came across an exhausted-looking Sango.

"So, how'd it go?" Cynthia asked, smirking.

"I had no idea that capturing pokemon was so hard…" Sango sighed. "How do you guys do it?"

"It's not that hard," Cynthia said, laughing.

"I haven't caught anything yet!"

"Well, maybe you just aren't putting enough effort into it!"

"Stop bickering, guys," Blake sighed.

The three of them continued deeper into the forest. However, Cynthia continuously rejected any pokemon they came across for being "too low rank" and Sango barely being able to put up a fight due to Uni being relatively weak.

"Whoa!" Cynthia said, her eyes widening. She stared at a wild Grovyle.

"Dibs," Blake said, smirking. Cynthia's eyes widened, and she turned and glared at Blake.

"Weiss, let's go!"

Blake tossed out a pokeball, which Weiss emerged from.

The Grovyle raised its head and glared at Blake.

Weiss flapped his wings, flying into the air and shooting towards the Grovyle. The Grovyle swung its arm, a blade of green energy flowing through it. Weiss skillfully dodged the attack, hitting the grass type in the neck, knocking it backwards.

Weiss flapped his wings, floating up into the air.

"False swipe again!" Blake said, Weiss nodding.

"Oh, smart," Cynthia said, nodding.

"False swipe?" Sango asked, confused.

"It's a special move," Cynthia said. "It never faints a pokemon."

"That will come in handy for capturing pokemon," Sango said, nodding.

"Boo, cheater," Cynthia jeered. "I saw it first!"

"You want a chance?" Blake asked.

"Yeah, sure."

"Too bad, I called dibs."

Once the Grovyle had been significantly weakened, Blake tossed out the pokeball, and captured it.

"Awesome! Way to go, Weiss!" Blake said, Weiss nodding appreciatively.

Blake returned Weiss to his pokeball, and turned to Cynthia.

"So, what do you think?"

"I think I got ripped off," Cynthia said, frowning. "Jerk."

"Bitch."

The two snickered, Sango rolling her eyes.

"Seriously, guys?"

"What are you going to do?" Cynthia asked, turning to Sango.

"I'll have to figure something out."

"Well, Blake, you might have caught a Grovyle, so I'll have to go catch a Sceptile now!" Cynthia said, glaring at him.

"I don't think Sceptile are on the list."

"I won't leave it like this!" Cynthia exclaimed, running deeper into the forest.

"…You need any help?" Blake asked, turning to Sango.

"Yes, please. At the very least I don't want to embarrass myself."

"Hey, we can always catch a Magikarp, right?"

"Oh shut up."

Meanwhile, Nick was attempting to capture a wild Mightyena.

The dark type swiftly dodged Abby's night slash, raking into her with its sharp claws. Abby jumped back, snarling at the dog pokemon.

"Abby, use razor wind!" Nick ordered. Wind whipped up around Abby's body and shot at the Mightyena, cutting into it with several blades of wind, knocking it into the air, the dark type skidding across the ground.

Abby was quickly on top of it, slashing into the pokemon with her claws as soon as it landed on its' back. She jumped back, Nick tossing out a pokeball and capturing it.

"Yes! Way to go Abby!" Nick said, running over to the Absol, rubbing his cheek into her collar.

Nick returned Abby to her pokeball, and headed back to go see Professor Green.

"We meet again…" Julia was standing in the field, glaring at the wild Shinx she had seen before.

The Shinx glared at her angrily.

"Wolfie, let's go!"

Julia's Poochyena emerged, growling at the Shinx.

"Okay, Wolfie! Use dark pulse!" Julia ordered. Wolfie ran towards the Shinx, dark energy moving through her body and releasing as a shockwave.

The Shinx jumped into the air, avoiding the attack, electricity crackling around it. Shinx his Wolfie head on with a spark attack, knocking her backwards.

The two pokemon glared at each other, circling around in anticipation.

Wolfie ran forward and gnashed her teeth at the electric type, the Shinx jumping back and swinging its tail, hitting Wolfie in the face. As the Shinx landed on the ground, it ran at Wolfie and tackled her head on, Wolfie skidding across the ground.

Wolfie leapt to her feet, barking angrily at the Shinx.

"Wolfie, try using dark pulse again," Julia ordered. Wolfie nodded, dark energy surging through her body. She released in a shockwave, this one managing to hit the Shinx.

The Shinx crashed onto the ground, rising to her feet, shaking, before collapsing to the ground, unconscious.

"Go!" Julia tossed out the pokeball, capturing the Shinx.

"Alright, I got it."

Julia turned and walked through the tall grass back towards the main building.

"Nick, how did it go for you?" Julia asked as she ran into him, both heading back.

"Pretty good," Nick said, nodding. "I caught a Mightyena, which must be pretty rare, right?"

"Sounds like it, yeah," Julia said, nodding. "What about the others?"

"Dunno, we got split up."

"Can I go back now?" Blake asked, exhausted.

"No!" Sango and Cynthia both exclaimed.

"Why not?"

"I'm not letting you go anywhere until I find a pokemon rarer than that Grovyle you caught, understand?"

"I still need your help in capturing something!"

"What about something easy, like a Kakuna or a Metapod?" Cynthia asked.

"I'd love that, but I can't seem to find any…" Sango said, shaking her head. "Unlike most pokemon, cocoon pokemon don't need to eat. I can't lure them out with berries, and anything I CAN lure out is too strong for Uni to fight."

Sango looked at the list.

"From what I can tell, the lowest rarity of pokemon are more likely to be the weakest, right?"

"I guess," Cynthia said, Blake nodding in agreement.

"Okay, then. It looks like the weakest pokemon on the list are Caterpie and Weedle, so I'll have to find the kind of berries most appealing to bug types," Sango decided, flipping through a small book she pulled out of her bag. "Bug pokemon like Leppa Berries, so I'll have to find out if there are any trees around here that grow that kind."

"Okay, while you do that, Blake and I will-"

"Wait, bug types?" Blake asked.

"Mm," Sango said, nodding.

Blake released Weiss from his pokeball.

"Hey, Weiss, do you think you can find any trees with Leppa Berries on them?" Blake asked.

"He should be drawn to them by the scent," Sango explained, "but just in case, Weiss, here's a picture."

Sango held up her book to the bug type, Weiss glancing over the small red berries and nodding.

With a flap of his wings, Weiss took to the air.

"Awesome, thanks, Blake!" Sango said, smiling. "We'll draw out those bug types like it isn't even a problem!"

"Okay, well, while he's working on that, Blake, can you help me capture a strong pokemon?" Cynthia asked.

"Does I really need to help you beat me?" Blake asked. "Do I seem like that nice of a person?"

"…Yes."

"Its fine, we can go," Sango said, nodding. "Weiss should be able to find us, at least."

Blake nodded, and the three of them continued down the path.

"So, Sango, what kind of berries are good for catching powerful grass types?" Cynthia asked.

"Well, like I said, different types of pokemon like different types of berries. Dual type pokemon like multiple kinds, but because of that they don't have the same sensitivity that monotype pokemon have. A monotype bug pokemon will be able to smell a Leppa Berry better than a dual type, for example."

"So grass pokemon…?"

"They generally like Persim Berries," Sango explained, beaming with pride at being able to talk about the subject like her teacher. "Persim trees grow high up from the ground because the berries like taking in large amounts of sunlight."

"So all we have to do is find a Persim tree, and we can draw the Sceptile right towards us!" Cynthia decided.

"It's not that easy," Sango said, shaking her head. "See, while the Persim Berries might draw Sceptile towards you, it's a lot more likely that you'll attract other grass types instead."

"Fine, whatever."

They continued for a little while, before Weiss flew back down to meet them.

"Weiss, did you find any of the berries?"

Weiss nodded.

"Great! Can you show us?" Sango asked, the Scizor nodding. The group followed after Weiss, who swiftly led them through the forest until they came across a clearing of large flowering trees, bright red berries growing from the flowers.

"Perfect!" Sango said, smiling. She looked around eagerly, but no pokemon could be found for now.

Sighing, Sango shrugged off her backpack and grabbed one of the tree branches. She hoisted herself up, skillfully climbing the tree until she was within reach of the berries.

"Blake!" Sango called down. "Open up my backpack and hand me a few ziplock bags, okay?"

To emphasize this point, her hand stuck out from the mass of leaves and waved.

Blake opened the bag and found a roll of ziplock bags, handing a couple up to Sango.

A few minutes later, the bags dropped to the ground, stuffed full with red berries, followed by Sango herself.

"Excellent, we've got more than enough."

"For what?" Cynthia asked.

"You know about repels?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, repels drive off wild pokemon by releasing a pheromone scent wild pokemon release to mark their territory. I'm going to make sort of an 'anti-repel' to do the opposite."

Sango poured several berries out onto a small wooden bowl she pulled out of her bag, and began mashing them with a small mallet.

"…Wait, are you saying that repels are made of-"

"Pokemon pheromones."

"Extracted from-"

"Yes."

"Oh, god, that's so gross."

"Geez, they use perfume to cover the scent, don't be such a baby."

"Well, I don't like spraying my clothes with… ick."

"God Cynthia, don't be such a girl."

"Well, you know, you could do to care a little about it."

"What's the point?" Sango asked, looking up.

"Well you know guys don't generally LIKE the smell of sweat, right?"

"I don't smell like sweat! D-do I?"

"That's what happens when you focus on exercise and not appearance."

"Exercise is more important! Appearance doesn't matter jack when it comes to surviving as a ranger."

"Well, yeah, but…"

"So I'm just going to focus on what I see as important, and you can do the same," Sango huffed.

"Cynthia, what were you trying to accomplish there?" Blake asked.

"…I'm just worried about my friend, geez."

"Whatever. I'm almost done anyway."

A few minutes later, Sango revealed the wooden bowl, and the bright red liquid inside of it. Sango took a small brush and began rubbing the red liquid around the trees, and soon enough the entire area began smelling with a slightly sweet aroma.

"Now we just wait, and the bug pokemon should come."

Indeed, they didn't have to wait long. A few minutes later, several Caterpie were sniffing around the berry juices.

"Okay, Uni, you're up!"

Uni emerged from her pokeball, and released a blast of psychic energy. One of the Caterpie was thrown from the tree trunk, flopping over onto its back. Sango took out the pokeball, throwing it at the bug pokemon, capturing it easily.

"Awesome!" Sango cheered, throwing her arms up in victory. "I did it!"

"Nice job," Cynthia said, nodding. "Does that mean it's my turn?"

"Sure, fine, why not. I'll help you find some Persim Berries to use to draw out those Sceptile," Sango said, shrugging. "Even though it's just a stupid wild thing that makes me unattractive."

* * *

Sure, she's fine as is, though.


	21. Chapter 20

Here's another chapter! This one should be good, it has a surprise at the end of it.

Daozang: Oh yeah, those two will likely be the main rivalry.

Arcana of the North: Wait no longer!

Duskzilla: Hm, good idea!

My Wunderwaffle iz missin: Yup, that's just how they are.

Darkhammer: Don't worry, I have big plans for his character. Just be a little patient, and you'll see.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 20

* * *

"Why is it so hard to find some damn berries?" Cynthia exclaimed.

"I don't know, I guess there aren't that many growing around here…" Sango said, shrugging. "Still, with the presence of Grass Type pokemon in these woods, there have to be SOME trees that have Persim Berries."

"Well, you said that pokemon can sniff out the kind of berries they like best, right?"

"Yup."

"Awesome! That means Tristan can find some of 'em pretty easily, right buddy?"

"Bre!" Tristan said, nodding.

Sango and Cynthia were leading the group, with Blake following behind them.

"It feels like we've been out here for hours," Blake sighed. "I don't think anyone else is even still looking."

"More Sceptile for me, then!" Cynthia said, smiling. "Tristan, go! Find some berries!"

Tristan raised his head, sniffing the air. His head lowered, and he ran off into the bushes.

Cynthia and Sango quickly followed after him, Blake not far behind.

Tristan ran forward, making a beeline straight for a large pile of berries, Cynthia right on his heels.

Sango, however, pulled back, realizing just fast enough what was going on.

The ground gave out from under Tristan and Cynthia's feet, and they plummeted into a large hole.

Nikita timidly peeked out over the hole's edge, only to become crestfallen at what she saw.

"…What are you doing down there?" Nikita asked.

"I was looking for Persim Berries!" Cynthia exclaimed. "What the heck?"

"…It was a brilliant trap to capture grass pokemon," Nikita explained, smiling. "I just used the Persim Berries to draw Sceptile into the pit, and then I could capture one."

"Yeah, well, you captured me!"

"I know that…"

Sango reached into her bag and withdrew a rope, tossing it down to Cynthia. Cynthia and Tristan climbed at, Cynthia turning and leering at the girl.

"Don't you know it's dangerous to set traps like that?" Cynthia demanded. "I could have gotten really hurt!"

"Didn't you compliment her pit last time?" Sango asked, Cynthia turning slightly pink in embarrassment.

"Sh-shut up!"

"I like your idea," Sango said, smiling. "It's pretty creative!"

"Really?" Nikita asked, her face brightening.

"Hey, guys."

Everyone's heads turned to see Blake.

"Sceptile."

Blake pointed at the large green pokemon, standing on a tree branch, staring down at them.

'Do you honestly think something as great as myself would let itself be caught in such an amateur trap?' the derisive look in its eyes seemed to say.

"Alright, Tristan, let's go!"

"No way, I'm gonna catch it!" Nikita cried. "Magnolia, come out!"

Nikita tossed out a pokeball, which her Bellosom emerged from, smiling.

"Well, this will go well," Blake sighed.

"Hey Blake, I was wondering something," Sango said.

"Yeah?" The two sat down on the grass, underneath one of the shady trees while Cynthia and Nikita tried to catch the Sceptile.

"Why isn't spore working?!" Cynthia's voice exclaimed.

"It's a grass type, powder moves don't work on grass types," Nikita informed her.

"Since when?!"

"Why isn't your Solosis any good at fighting?" Sango asked, looking down at the squishy green pokemon in her arms.

"Well, see, it's not really mine," Blake admitted.

"It isn't?"

"Damn it, it keeps dodging bullet seed! Tristan, try going in for a mach punch!"

"No, see, it was actually a gift," Blake said.

"Oh, from a giiirlll?" Sango teased, channeling her inner Cynthia.

"Yeah."

"Whoa, seriously?" Sango asked, surprised.

"Damn it, detect has gotta be the most stupid move I've ever seen!"

"Yeah, she didn't have any skill at raising pokemon, so she wanted me to take care of it…" Blake said, rubbing the green pokemon. "But that was a while ago… I haven't seen her in a long time…"

"Oh, I see…"

"Still, it seems like Uni doesn't want to grow stronger…" Blake said. "She doesn't seem to like fighting very much."

"Yeah, I know the feeling," Sango said, nodding.

"How did that thing break through Magnolia's reflect in one hit?!"

"You know, you gave me some pretty good advice before, and you seem to be okay at raising pokemon, so why don't you want to be a trainer?" Blake asked.

"Ever since I was a little girl, I've wanted to be a Pokemon Ranger…" Sango said, staring up at the sky, smiling. "I mean, fighting pokemon is fine and all, but I don't like to see my pokemon get hurt…"

"I understand that," Blake said, nodding.

"Tristan, stop getting hurt already and beat that stupid thing!"

"But it's more than just that," Sango said. "See, my dad… he's… um… have you ever seen Indiana Jones?"

"Of course."

"He's kind of like that. See, my mom died when I was very little, and my dad was always travelling around from one place to another, so he would leave me with relatives and I would go months without seeing him."

"That sounds tough."

"No, but it wasn't," Sango said, smiling. "See, he'd always send me letters from wherever he was at the time, and he would always bring back a souvenir every time he came back. It was so cool. Other people's parents were just boring old pokemon trainers and what-not, but my dad was exploring the tallest mountains and the deepest oceans looking for ancient pokemon relics."

Sango's face flushed a little.

"See, my dad, he's… kind of my hero…"

"So that's why you want to be a ranger?"

"Yeah!" Sango said, jumping to her feet, holding her hand out in a triumphant fist. "But not just any ranger. Top Rangers have the permission to do as they like and take on any missions that interest them, they're free agents! As a Top Ranger, I would be free to travel the world, discovering new mysteries and challenges! Finally, my dad would be able to take me on his explorations, and we'd be able to spend more time together as a family!"

Suddenly feeling embarrassed by her outburst, Sango sat back down.

"Why won't this thing faint already?!"

"Um, sorry about that," Sango said.

"No problem," Blake said, shrugging. "Your goals are better than mine, at any rate."

"What do you mean?"

"To be honest, I don't really have a big reason why I wanted to become a pokemon trainer…" Blake explained.

"Huh?"

"I guess, it's just because of my brother. Ever since I was a kid, my brother was the most amazing trainer I'd ever seen. He'd almost never lose, it was like he was invincible."

"Is this Sceptile invincible or something?"

"How does it know dragon claw?!"

"Whoa…" Sango said, impressed.

"So, ever since I was a kid, I always wanted to be stronger than my brother," Blake admitted. "It… did not go well. And here I am."

"What's wrong with that?" Sango asked, confused.

"Oh my god! NOT AERIAL ACE! NOT AERIAL ACE!"

"Well, I mean…"

"If you want to beat your brother, I think that's a fine goal," Sango said, smiling. "If you have an image of what you want to do, then you'll do fine."

"Thanks," Blake said. "But I don't think it's just about that…"

"No?"

"I guess… I just want to be stronger, that's all."

"Huh… Well, I-"

Cynthia and Nikita walked back over to them.

"How did it go?" Blake asked.

"We're giving up," the two said together.

"So, should we head back?" Sango asked. "It's getting late."

"Not to mention the European National Tournament Finals going to be starting soon," Blake added. "So we need to head back if we want to catch it on TV in the common room."

"Holy crap! I forgot about that!" Cynthia exclaimed. She threw the pokeball and caught a Caterpie, running at top speed back over to the classroom.

Sango and Blake sighed, following after her, while Nikita went to go look for her own pokemon.

* * *

Cynthia burst into the Bulbasaur House, panting. Everyone living in the dorm was packed around the large TV, the stadium onscreen.

"Did we make it?" Cynthia asked, panting.

"Just in time," Julia said, nodding. "It's about to start."

The three of them pushed their way to the front of the crowd, plopping down in front of the TV.

"Come on, Kanone…" Blake turned his head to see a crowd of girls wearing "Kanone Harker" shirts, staring at the TV excitedly. He rolled his eyes.

"I'm excited…" Kitty said shyly, curling up next to Julia on the couch.

"Tension is rising in the stadium!" The announcer shouted excitedly. "For today is the much anticipated rematch between previous Euro Champion Kanone Harker, and the runner-up, Casey Daymar!"

Kanone was standing on the stadium floor, smiling like he wasn't about to fight in the match to determine the European Champion. He ran his fingers through his short brown hair and waved at the camera, smiling cheerfully.

A swoon rose up from the members of his fan club.

"Kanone!" his opponent, a girl with short brown and gold streaked hair and dark eyes, shouted. "Today, I've finally prepared to get my revenge!"

"Really?" Kanone asked, his brown eyes flashing in anticipation. "I wonder, Casey, how much stronger have you become since our last battle? Hopefully you put more effort into your training than into deciding your wardrobe for the match."

Casey looked down at her clothes, a pair of jeans and a yellow shirt. Her cheeks flushed.

"Now, let the match begin!" the announcer declared. Kanone reached into the pocket of his long brown jacket, and tossed out a pokeball.

* * *

"Maron!" Casey shouted. "Use earthquake!"

Her Chestnaught roared, holding her hands up, and pounding the ground. A shockwave of energy shot through the ground, knocking Kanone's Blaziken off of its feet.

"Phoenix," Kanone declared. His Blaziken looked back at him, panting, exhausted and injured.

"Casey's Chestnaught's powerful attacks aren't giving Kanone a chance to counterattack! If she can keep up this pressure, Casey will be up three pokemon to Kanone's one!"

Phoenix' eyes narrowed at the Chestnaught, flames bursting out from his arms, the flames turning blue.

"Burning Wing," Kanone ordered.

Phoenix leapt into the air, blue flames encasing his body.

"It seems that Kanone's Blaziken has triggered its 'Blaze' ability!" the announcer declared.

Flames shot out from Phoenix' body, forming the shape of a burning blue bird. The blue bird shot at the Chestnaught, hitting her head on, setting her body ablaze.

The flames died down, Maron nearly unconscious, but still standing. Phoenix, damaged from the recoil of the powerful combination of Flare Blitz and Brave Bird, collapsed to the ground.

"Excellent job, Maron," Casey said, smiling. "It seems all those EVs we invested into your defense came in handy."

Casey checked her information, and frowned. "Still, you're not in very good shape. This battle isn't over yet."

"Unbelievable! Kanone only has one pokemon left!" the announcer shouted. "Will we have a new European Champion after today?"

"No way…" one of the girls in Kanone's fan club said, worried. "Kanone can't… lose, can he?"

"Oh man, I am so psyched!" Cynthia said, shivering with excitement. "Damn it, I wanna battle so badly now, I can't stand it!"

"I don't think it's over yet," Julia said, frowning.

"He'll win," Blake said matter-of-factly, everyone turning to him in surprise.

"This is just a game to him," Blake said, frowning. "Look at that smile on his face. He's barely been taking this seriously."

"He does look kind of… laid back…" Sango said, nodding.

"My brother has always been like that," Blake said, frowning. "The kind of man who never shows when he's in a bad situation. No matter what, he always has that calm smile on his face, like he's got everything planned."

"He's your brother?!" Cynthia exclaimed. Everyone turned to look at him in shock.

"Didn't you notice?" Julia asked, confused. "The two of them have the same name."

Everyone nodded in agreement, feeling stupid for not realizing it sooner.

"…Cool…" Kitty said, smiling. Suddenly, she winced in pain.

"…Whoa, are you okay?" Cynthia asked, turning to look up at Kitty, who was holding her head.

"Yeah, I guess it's just too much TV," Kitty said, smiling. "Just a headache is all…"

"You seem to have grown much stronger," Kanone said, returning Phoenix to his pokeball. "I must say I've thoroughly enjoyed this match. Even so…"

Kanone took out a pokeball from his belt, smiling.

"It still isn't enough… More… until I become the strongest, I will not ever stop."

Kanone tossed the pokeball up into the air.

"Cut through everything standing in the way of my path, Sammy!"

A Samurott emerged from the pokeball, howling.

"Of course," Blake said, nodding. "It's over."

"Let's go!" Kanone said, his eyes flashing in excitement. Sammy jumped up onto her hind legs, and withdrew both of her shell swords.

"Maron, don't give her the chance!" Casey shouted. "Bullet seed!"

Maron opened her mouth, firing a barrage of seeds at the water type.

"Sword dance," Kanone ordered. Water surged around Sammy's blades, whipping the seeds out of the air as she danced.

Sammy charged forwards, her blades flashing.

"Spiky shield!" Casey ordered. Maron covered her body with a shield of spikes, Sammy jumping above her.

She shot down, propelled by a blast of water, bringing her water blade down on Maron's shoulder, knocking her unconscious.

"Return," Casey said, returning Maron to her pokeball. "Now, Blitzer, go!"

Casey tossed out a pokeball, which an Electivire emerged from, electricity crackling.

"Casey's fifth pokemon is an Electivire!" the announcer declared. "This might be dangerous for Kanone's Samurott!"

Kanone's smile still hadn't left, however.

"Thunderbolt!" Casey ordered. Electricity charged between Blitzer's antenna, and fired at Sammy.

Sammy swung her blade, releasing a shockwave of water that carved through the lightning bolt and striking Blitzer, knocking him backwards. She took the initiative and shot forwards, blades raised.

"Quick attack!" Casey ordered. Blitzer shot to the side, fist raised. Electricity charged through his hand.

Blitzer hit the ground with his fist, a pillar of lightning erupted from the ground, shocking Sammy with a blast of electricity.

Sammy fell to the ground, shaking.

"Thunderpunch!" Casey ordered. Blitzer raised his fist, electricity charging through it.

Sammy leapt to her feet, swinging her blade at Blitzer to counter the punch. Sammy jumped back, swinging her swords, blades of water firing at the Electivire, causing Blitzer to cry out in pain.

"Thunderbolt, one more time!" Casey ordered. Blitzer fired a powerful bolt of lightning at Sammy.

Sammy shot forwards, water coursing around her body. The electricity struck her, surging through the water and increasing its power. The empowered aqua jet attack smashed into Blitzer, Sammy shooting past him, Blitzer crying out in pain from the cuts inflicted by Sammy's blades.

Blitzer collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

"Damn," Casey said, frowning.

"Kanone has managed to close the gap between him and Casey! Not only that, his Samurott doesn't even seem to be winded!" the announcer shouted in awe.

"Kyaaaah!" Kanone's fan club let out a screech of joy, everyone clenching their ears.

"Hey, guys, keep it down," Julia said, glancing over to Kitty, who was holding her head in pain.

"Nessie, go!" Casey shouted, tossing out a pokeball, which a pink Lapras emerged from.

"Oh, a shiny!" Cynthia said, her eyes shining.

"If that Lapras has water absorb, it'll be hard for that Samurott," Nick observed.

Sammy charged at the Lapras, blades raised, swinging at the Lapras.

"Nessie, use freeze dry!"

Nessie opened her mouth, freezing ice breath shooting out, hitting Sammy head on. Ice began to coat Sammy's body, freezing her solid.

"Whoa…" Cynthia said, shocked. "That move looked really strong! But I thought water types resisted ice moves?"

"Freeze dry is a special exception."

Cynthia turned to see Will standing behind her, frowning.

"Its super effective against water types," Will said. "My Lapras knows it as well."

"Cool," Cynthia said, surprised.

"Now, Nessie, use thunderbolt!" Casey ordered.

Electricity surged through Nessie's body, and fired it at Sammy.

The ice around Sammy's body cracked, and she broke free, dodging the electricity, and hitting Nessie in the torso with her blade, knocking her off of her flippers.

Sammy charged forwards, energy surging through her body. She struck Nessie with her blades at full force, unleashing a powerful superpower attack, knocking Nessie unconscious in one hit.

"I-I don't believe it…" the announcer said, shocked. "Kanone Harker came back from behind with an amazing run, and once again established himself as the European Champion!"

Kanone waved to the crowd, a charming smile on his face. The crowd roared in applause, as his fan club squeed in glee.

"Oh man, that was so cool!" Cynthia exclaimed. "Okay, someone, battle me!"

"Blake!" Blake closed his eyes as the members of Kanone's fan club swarmed around him.

"Can you get me your brother's autograph?"

"Can you invite him over to give us some training advice?"

"He's so strong!"

"I wanna have his children!"

Sango looked at the swarm of fangirls around Blake, chuckling. I can definitely see how growing up around that might be troubling…

* * *

Definitely. Kanone is quite the powerful trainer.


	22. Chapter 21

Here's another chapter. On another note, POKEMON SUN AND MOON VERSION CONFIRMED!

Daozang: Kanone is the kind of person who only wants to become stronger and stronger. By that, I mean facing stronger and stronger opponents.

Duskzilla: Kanone doesn't care about type advantages, he'll smash anyone with his power. I once heard he defeated a Shedinja with normal moves. I wouldn't put it past Kanone.

Phantom-Jester: Maybe. PM me and I might use it. At the very least it'll help with writing her character.

Silverwing58: Thanks!

Arcana of the North: Maybe… maybe…

Eclipsed Umbreon: We're just getting started. If you've read any of my other work, you know what level Kanone is at compared to everyone else on the planet.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 21

* * *

As Blake and Julia were eating lunch on the Snorlax patio, Cynthia ran up and slammed a poster down on the table.

"What is this?" Blake asked, confused.

"Read it!" Cynthia exclaimed, excited.

"The Fall Festival Tournament?" Julia asked.

"It's a four day long tournament open to Freshmen and Sophomores!" Cynthia said, excited. "Look at the top prize! 2000 Pokepoints!"

"Whoa, that's twice the amount we start each semester with," Blake said, surprised.

"I know, not only that, the top 16 is full battles! That should be awesome! I can't wait!"

"Full battles, huh?" Julia asked, sighing. "I guess I'm out. I only have 5 pokemon to work with."

"I'm sure you can borrow a pokemon from the school to use, don't be a Debbie Downer!"

"Oh, shut up," Julia sighed. "Fine."

"So, Blake, I asked Serefina, and she said that we can use the Pokemon Friends Club as time to train our pokemon!" Cynthia said, trembling in excitement. "I can't wait!"

* * *

After his classes for the day ended, Blake headed to the clearing at the edge of campus where the club had arranged to meet up, Cynthia already training her pokemon.

"James, use echoed voice!" Cynthia ordered. James opened his mouth, releasing a shockwave of sound.

"Marisa… use disarming voice…!" Kitty ordered. The pink and cream colored Sylveon opened her mouth, releasing a blast of sound to counter the other sonic attack.

James ran towards Marisa, who leapt out of the way, opening her mouth, releasing a wave of stars, hitting the Loudred head on.

"Oh, hey Blake!" Serefina said, waving at him. "You here to train?"

"Yup," Blake said, nodding.

"Can I train with you?" Nick asked.

"Sure," Blake said, nodding. "But most of my pokemon are pretty well prepared…"

"Well, come on, let your pokemon out of your balls!" Serefina said, smiling. Blake released his five pokemon, Serefina looking over each of them.

"Wow, you take really good care of them," Eli said.

"You know that this tournament will have full battles, right?" Serefina asked. "You only have five pokemon?"

"No, I… I have more, but… well…" Blake sighed, looking down. "I don't know about my last one…"

"Come on, what's the harm?" Eli asked, frowning.

"…I, I guess…" Blake said, nodding. He looked at the pokeball in his hand, and pressed the button. A large Salamence emerged, growling.

"Hey… Sarah…" Blake said, reaching a hand out towards the Salamence, who snarled at him.

"Umu…" Kitty shivered, backing away, falling to the ground in fear.

Marisa ran in front of her trainer, extending her feelers protectively.

"Hey, are you okay?" Cynthia asked, running over to the fallen girl.

"It's… it's a…" Kitty held her head, shivering in terror as she stared at the dragon.

Marisa growled at Sarah, who scoffed. She turned away, whipping her tail, knocking Marisa off of her feet.

Marisa landed on the ground and opened her mouth, releasing a shockwave of sound. The disarming voice attack hit Sarah head on, Sarah crying out in pain.

"SALAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Sarah whirled around and roared, the trees shaking. She opened her mouth, a blast of flames shooting out.

Marisa cried out in pain as she was burned, falling to the ground. She stood up, trembling. Sarah raised her claw, swinging it down towards Marisa, who flinched in fear.

"Marisa!" Kitty screeched.

James jumped in front of Marisa, hitting Sarah in the jaw, enraging her even more.

"Sarah, stop it!" Blake exclaimed.

Sarah roared again, swinging her tail wildly, hitting Kitty with it. Kitty clenched her stomach as she was flung onto the ground, gasping for air. The Salamence loomed over her, her eyes glaring down like a demon at the shaking girl.

Sarah flapped her wings, flying into the air. She opened her mouth, violet flames shooting out and raining down on her. Weiss shot forward, scooping Kitty up, flying her to safety. He then turned, and darted towards Sarah.

Weiss caught Sarah in the side of the mouth with a bullet punch, Sarah roaring in anger. A swipe of the claw, and Weiss fell to the ground, injured.

"Kitty!" Cynthia cried, cradling the injured girl.

"Sarah, STOP!" Blake exclaimed, running towards the dragon. Sarah released another blast of flames in anger, Weiss pushing Blake out of the way and taking the full force of the attack, falling unconscious.

Sarah's flames danced wildly, setting the trees in the clearing on fire.

"Crap!" Eli reached for her pokeballs as the dragon pokemon continued its rampage.

"SALAAAAAAA!" Sarah roared, releasing another blast of flames.

Blake's pokemon rushed out to try and suppress Sarah, but it was no use. Tara was badly hurt with a blast of flames, while Cory and Rogen were both easily knocked aside by dragon claw attacks. Uni hid behind Blake, shivering in fear.

Blake's face was completely pale. He tried to return Sarah to her pokeball, but the Salamence dodged the beam, roaring in anger, sending a blast of flames Blake's way. The trainers too cover behind the trees, as Sarah flew overhead.

Along with Sarah, another set of wings were heard, however.

Erik, carried aloft by his Noivern, flew overhead.

"Valiant, X-Factor, go!"

From the bushes, two pokemon leapt up, a Grovyle and a Weavile.

Valiant, the Grovyle, opened his mouth, releasing a dragon pulse attack, as X-Factor, the Weavile, focused icy energy into its claw. The two attacks struck the Salamence, injuring her badly, Sarah landing on the ground. Sarah released another blast of violet flames, pushing the two pokemon back.

"Not good," Erik said, frowning, dropping onto the ground. "Midnight, think you can handle her?"

"What are you doing here?" Serefina asked.

"Once again, it seems the Pokemon Friends Club goes around setting fires," Erik said, frowning, revealing a training Capture Styler. He released the disk at the Salamence, but Sarah easily broke the line, firing a blast of flames at him.

Midnight opened his mouth, blocking the flames with a water pulse attack.

"Looks like I'll have to use my last resort, then," Erik said, frowning. He withdrew a flare gun from his pocket, firing it up into the air. "Guys, keep this up until she gets here, okay?"

Midnight, Valiant, and X-Factor nodded.

The three pokemon used attacks to hit Sarah, not trying to injure her, but trying to force her to remain in place as Erik attempted to capture her with the styler. However, Sarah was simply refusing to go down.

Suddenly, another roar, nearly as loud as Sarah's, broke out. A dark figure descended on the clearing from the mountains, roaring ferociously.

The massive black and blue dragon pokemon, Hydreigon, roared as it glared at the Salamence.

"SALAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Sarah roared, shaking off the other pokemon and focusing on this new threat.

"HYDREIIIIIIII!" the Hydreigon roared at well.

"Destroyer, try as hard as you can not to hurt her," Erik said, frowning. "We're trying to incapacitate her, understand?"

Obviously not understanding, the dragon fired a blast of dragon energy at Sarah, hitting her head on, Sarah crying out in pain. Sarah flapped her wings and bombed for the Hydreigon, holding her claws out, hitting the dark dragon with a powerful dragon claw attack, knocking her into the ground.

The two dragons struggled against each other, powerful attacks flying as the Pokemon Friends Club cringed in fear.

Blake watched on, powerless, as his Salamence was rampaging.

Destroyer hit Sarah with a second dragon pulse, Sarah wincing in pain, collapsing to the ground. Erik released a disk from the capture styler, looping around Sarah, taming her, Sarah surrendering.

Blake returned Sarah to her pokeball, staring at it.

"Midnight," Erik ordered. Midnight raised his head, releasing a powerful water pulse, which burst into a deluge of rain, extinguishing the flames.

Destroyer looked around anxiously, seeking another opponent. Erik glared at her sternly.

"Destroyer, return to the farm, understand?"

Destroyer glared at her partner, but nodded, flapping her wings, and flying back towards the mountain.

Erik turned to Blake, and grabbed the pokeball from him.

"Hey! Give that back!" Blake exclaimed.

"Not a chance," Erik said, glaring at him. He grabbed Blake by the shoulder, dragging him towards the campus.

Erik turned to Cynthia, frowning.

He picked up his phone, and a few minutes later, an ambulance rushed onto the scene, lifting Kitty up onto a stretcher and taking her to the on-campus infirmary.

* * *

"Explain the situation to me again."

The Headmaster stared out the window, frowning. Several teachers had been gathered together to decide what would happen with Blake.

"It… it wasn't my fault…" Blake said, looking down, frowning. "No… it was my fault… I let out my Salamence, even though I knew I didn't have complete control over it… and she went on a rampage…"

"I had to use several of my partner pokemon to bring her down," Erik said, frowning. "It was just a fortunate coincidence that I was training my team nearby, otherwise there's no telling the damage that could have happened."

"OBJECTION!"

All heads turned to see Cynthia standing there, pointing accusingly at Erik.

"Cynthia Fafnir here in defense of Blake!" Cynthia declared. "I declare that it wasn't his fault the event that occurred!"

"…Ignoring the idiot," Erik said, frowning, "Blake holds the responsibility to look after his pokemon and ensure that they don't danger others."

"I agree," Headmaster Albreicht said, nodding. "So all that matters now is determining what sort of punishment we should apply."

"Previously, suspension from class for a week has been the punishment, yes?" one of the teachers Blake had yet to meet asked.

"As well as being forbidden from participating in school events for at least a month, and being unable to participate in any battles outside of class," another teacher said.

Blake's eyes stared blankly at the ground, saying nothing. Cynthia looked worriedly at her friend.

"I don't think that's necessary," Professor Reinhart said, frowning.

"Aurore? Anything you'd like to add?" Headmaster Albreicht asked.

"Well, in past experience, those have been punishments when the student was undoubtedly at fault," Professor Reinhart said, nodding. "But is that really the case this time?"

"Of course it is," one of the teachers said. "This student sent out a pokemon he could not fully control."

"Other students witnessed the event, right?" Professor Reinhart asked, glancing at Cynthia. "Perhaps we should speak with them about what happened, before casting judgment."

"Yeah, exactly!" Cynthia exclaimed. "It wasn't Blake's fault, see, his Salamence only attacked because she was being provoked, and went wild!"

"We'll talk to the other students about the incident," Headmaster Albreicht said, nodding. "You two can leave for now."

Blake and Cynthia left the room, while the other members of the Pokemon Friends Club went in to go talk to the teachers.

"Hey, don't worry, Blake, it'll be fine!" Cynthia said, smiling. "I'm sure they won't be too hard on you!"

"It's not that…" Blake said, frowning. "What I did to Kitty…"

"She's fine, don't worry about it!" Cynthia said. "Come on, let's go check on her!"

Blake and Cynthia headed to the infirmary, where Kitty was sleeping.

"Hey guys," Sango said, glancing up at them glumly.

"Is she still unconscious?" Cynthia asked worriedly.

"Yeah, but she could wake up at any time, so there's nothing to worry about…" Sango said. "Julia was here a few minutes ago, and said that she'd bring her some food, but she won't wake up to eat it…"

As if on cue, Kitty's red eyes blinked, and she sat up, rubbing her head.

She was in a daze as she sat, then noticed everyone around her.

"Oh, hey guys…" Kitty's eyes landed on Blake, and widened.

"Oh, Blake…"

"Hey, um, about what happened before…"

"It-it's okay…" Kitty said, forcing a smile to her face. "I just… I'm scared… of Salamence… and dragons in general, I guess…"

"Listen, I-I'm really sorry, if I had known that Sarah was going to react like that, I never would have sent her out!"

"I told you not to worry!" Kitty said, smiling. "I'm feeling better now, honest!"

"Well, I bought this for you, hope you get well soon!" Cynthia said, handing Kitty a small can.

Kitty looked at the can of cat food and her eyes started to tear up.

"Waaaah…"

"H-hey, it was just a joke!" Cynthia said, nervous, Kitty chuckling.

"It's al-ow…" Kitty clenched her head in pain.

"Your injuries?" Cynthia asked worriedly.

"No, I've just been having headaches recently, it's nothing," Kitty said, smiling. "Um, about Marisa…"

"Your Sylveon?" Cynthia asked. "Don't worry, she's gonna be fine. You were actually hurt more than her."

"Okay, that's good," Kitty said, smiling.

"Look, Kitty, I'm really sorry about this…"

"N-no, I already said it was fine!" Kitty said, her face flushed. "Seriously! Don't worry about anything! I just had the wind knocked out of me!"

"Good, tell that to the headmaster and the other teachers, that way Blake won't get in any trouble!" Cynthia said, smiling, Blake shooting her a dirty look.

"What?" Cynthia asked, confused. "I mean, she's not injured, we don't want this whole thing blowing out of proportion!"

"Cynthia…" Sango said, frowning, reminding them for the first time that she was still in the room.

"What?" Cynthia asked.

"Blake needs to accept responsibility for what he did. If Erik hadn't been there, Kitty might have died. You all might have died."

"It was just a pokemon going wild!" Cynthia said, frowning. "I mean, yeah, it's dangerous, but we handled it!"

"That's not the point!" Sango said, frowning. "Blake was reckless, and he put everyone in danger!"

"Whoa, wait…" Blake started, Kitty looking at each of them nervously, trying to find a way to speak up.

"Ahem."

Everyone turned to see Julia walk into the room, holding a bag.

"Here, this should get your strength up," Julia said, handing Kitty a juice.

"O-oh, thanks…"

Julia sat down in a chair next to the bed, flipping through a magazine. She looked up.

"…What?"

"You interrupted us like you wanted to say something," Sango said.

"Oh. No, I just wanted you guys to shut up. You were being annoying."

"Anyways, as I was saying-"

"It doesn't matter," Julia interrupted. "What it comes down to is the fact that Blake released a pokemon he couldn't control, and it went wild. And Kitty nearly died."

"…I-I'm fine!"

"No matter what, this looks bad for Blake as a trainer," Julia said, frowning. "I'm talking suspension. Expulsion. If Kitty's wounds were a little more serious, maybe jail time. Blake should have known better than using a pokemon he couldn't control."

"Sarah never acted like that before!" Blake said, frowning. "Usually, she just refuses to listen to my orders! That's the first time she's rampaged like that, except for-"

Blake shut his mouth, going pale, his eyes turning to Kitty, who looked at him cluelessly.

"Except for what?" Julia asked, narrowing her eyes.

"It's nothing…" Blake said, narrowing his eyes curiously. He looked at Kitty as if he was trying to figure something out, rubbing the pendent around his neck unconsciously. "No, no, nothing… I just need some fresh air…"

Blake walked out of the infirmary, putting his headphones over his ears and looking up at the sky.

"It can't be…"

* * *

Ooh… something seems to be going on! I wonder what…?


	23. Chapter 22

We'll see, what will happen with Blake and his Salamence?

Martyn: She's not really that bad.

Duskzilla: It should be pretty fun.

Eclipsed Umbreon: He'll be fine.

Daozang: Yup, Salamence are pretty scary pokemon.

Darkmoonrise312: Welcome back.

My Wunderwaffle iz missin: Yup.

Darkhammer: It's a surprise.

Arcana of the North: It should be fine.

Amethyst53Ljk: We'll see.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 22

* * *

"Blake Harker." The headmaster glared at Blake, who shifted nervously.

"We've reached our decision."

"…" Blake remained silent, looking down.

"Many people believe that pokemon are toys. Because of that, they utilize the powers of creatures they don't fully understand, and wind up hurting themselves and others," Lori said. "Because of that, Pokemon Academy prioritizes safety above all else."

"…I know."

"Several of my colleagues are talking about suspending you, and prohibiting you from participating in school events for the semester."

The headmaster stared at Blake, his red eyes shining.

"However, testimony from the other members of your club has shed some light on the events. Furthermore, we've gotten a request from the victim herself not to be too hard on you. And since no one received any serious injuries and damage to the campus was at a minimum, we've decided not to judge as harshly as we might have in different circumstances."

Blake's heart was lightened, but the headmaster continued speaking.

"Until you can prove to the satisfaction of campus security that you have your Salamence under control, you are forbidden from ever releasing it from its pokeball while on campus grounds. Furthermore, we have decided to place you on probation, with the condition of your suspension for a month should you be involved with any infraction of the rules within the semester. Finally, we decided that you will be allowed to participate in the upcoming festival; however, these events have shown your lack in skill at raising pokemon, and you cannot be trusted with pokemon that do not belong to you. You will not be allowed to rent pokemon from the school or borrow pokemon from another student to replace any missing spots, understand?"

"…Yes," Blake said, nodding.

"Good."

Erik handed Blake Sarah's pokeball, and Blake left the headmaster's office.

"How did it go?" Cynthia, waiting outside the door, demanded.

"It… should be fine. The punishment wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," Blake said, relieved.

"Oh, good. So you're still able to participate in the tournament, then?"

"Yeah, but it looks like I'm going to have to catch another pokemon," Blake said.

"Blake."

Blake and Cynthia turned to see Erik standing there.

"Um, yeah?"

"That Salamence of yours, you don't have very good control over her."

"I know," Blake said, looking down.

"If you want, I can help you."

"Huh?" Blake asked, confused.

"I'm a descendent of the draconid," Erik said, frowning. "A clan with strong ties to dragon type pokemon. Because of this, I have a certain set of skills when it comes to their raising and instruction. Your Salamence is lacking in discipline, and I believe that I might be able to help mediate things between the two of you."

"Seriously?!" Cynthia asked, excited. "That would be so cool!"

"I have a shrine," Erik explained. "Up the mountain, where my Destroyer stays. It keeps her away from the other pokemon, who have a tendency to provoke violent responses from her. If you want, I can keep your Salamence up there. It will provide an environment where the two of you can spend time with one another without causing harm to any of the other students."

"Are you sure?" Blake asked, frowning. "That… it would help a lot."

"It's fine," Erik said, nodding. "You wouldn't be the first trainer here with a dragon pokemon they couldn't control."

"Um, sure…" Blake looked at the pokeball in his hand, and handed it over to Erik.

"Come up in about a week, then we can start getting the two of you to spend more time together," Erik said. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a map of the mountain, handing it to Blake. "We'll be up here."

"…Thanks," Blake said, nodding.

"Good luck, then," Erik said, shrugging, turning and walking away.

"…Okay then, first order of business, we have to go and get you to catch a new pokemon!" Cynthia said, excited.

"No, the first order of business is to go check on Kitty," Blake said, frowning.

"…Fine, sure," Cynthia sighed.

As Cynthia and Blake reached the infirmary, Kitty was just leaving, Julia beside her.

"Are you sure it's okay to be leaving so soon?" Cynthia asked worriedly.

"Yeah, no problem!" Kitty said, smiling. "Nothing too severe, just…"

Kitty held her head, wincing.

Cynthia rushed over to Kitty, Julia holding onto her to steady the small girl.

"I-I'm fine, really, just a headache! Don't worry!" Kitty said, smiling.

"Yeah, okay…" Cynthia said, nodding.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Kalos…

"Kanone!" Casey ran into the hotel room Kanone was staying at, panting.

"…Yes?" Kanone asked, looking up from his food. "Can I help you?"

"You need to hide me, reporters…" Casey gasped out.

"…Sure."

Casey flopped onto the bed, panting.

"Sometimes I regret becoming a professional pokemon trainer…" Casey sighed. "Way too much publicity…"

"I don't," Kanone said, smiling. "It gives me a stage to fight the strong."

"Yeah, I know, but I remember when training pokemon used to be just for fun," Casey sighed. "Now, it's so stressful… I just wish I could take a break…"

"Strange…" Kanone said, chuckling.

"…What?"

"What you said, about pokemon being just for fun, it seems so strange to me…"

Casey sat up, surprised.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's just that ever since I started, I've only really had one goal, to become a stronger trainer… the idea of training pokemon for enjoyment never seemed to make sense…"

"You don't… like training pokemon?"

"Of course I do," Kanone said, shaking his head. "It's just… training pokemon, and making them release their inner strength, it's always been a means to an end."

"…Then why?"

"Sorry, another time," Kanone said, opening his wallet and staring at the picture within it. "Now that I think about it, though, there is one thing that I do find enjoyable. Facing a strong opponent. An opponent who stands a chance at defeating me."

…

"Not you, I mean."

"Hilarious."

"On the other hand, though," Kanone said, smiling, "I've recently discovered… that perhaps there is a trainer who is strong enough to give me a good challenge."

"Someone who can fight you on even ground?!" Casey asked, shocked. "That I'd pay to see!"

"Yes, and even more interesting, the person in question is still a student…" Kanone said, smiling. "I've only recently gotten word, I don't even know who it is yet."

"Well, that should be interesting. If there's someone who can defeat you, I guess that means I have a shot."

"…Not really," Kanone said, shrugging, Casey glaring at him.

"Don't take it so personally," Kanone said, smiling. "I only say stuff like that because it drives you to become stronger."

"If one didn't know any better, I'd say you wanted someone to defeat you," Casey said, smirking.

"I don't want anyone to beat me," Kanone said. "I want to be the strongest."

"Well, you're already amazing. You couldn't win the World Tournament, but you still were amazing."

"I don't want to be strong. I'll never be satisfied," Kanone said, looking out the window.

"Well, that doesn't sound very good," Casey said, frowning.

"It's very good," Kanone said, turning back to her, a broad grin on his face. "You see, Casey, the problem with strength, is that when most people achieve it, it becomes all that is for them. They cling to the strength they have, and never reach for anything more. So many people I've defeated have claimed to be strong, and never sought to grow past that because they had no one to challenge them, no one to drive them to become better."

Kanone's grin faded, and his expression became serious.

"I need something to challenge me, something that drives me. Something to keep me from being merely 'content' with my level of power, and drive me to improve."

"I see…"

"Casey, have I ever told you about my brother?" Kanone asked.

"He… he's going to that school, in… Sovia, right? The one that teaches people to be trainers and coordinators, right?"

"Exactly," Kanone said, nodding. "You'd like him. Just like you, my brother has always had this desire to become stronger than me. To make me kneel before him on the ground and lick his boots and call him 'your highness'."

Casey's face was bright red.

"W-WHY would you think that I-"

"I'm kidding. But just like you, I serve as something he can aim for. I'm someone that you want to defeat. And because of that, you'll train your pokemon until you run out of strength, and drive yourself as hard as it takes to defeat me. Because I serve as a good measure of your power."

"…Yeah."

"I want to find it. Someone who can challenge me, fight me right to the very edge of my ability, and then drive me to surpass it. All I've fought, they've either been far too weak to challenge me, or so strong I couldn't overcome them no matter how I tried. But I might soon find someone… at that school… who can challenge me."

Kanone's eyes narrowed, shimmering with light.

"I can see it clearly…"

* * *

Nick looked off into the distance.

"Wait, why am I here?" Nick asked, confused. "It isn't me, right?"

"Isn't you what?" Cynthia asked, confused. The two of them were eating lunch while waiting for the others.

"Whoa, so he actually agreed to train your Salamence for you?" Sango asked, surprised, she and Blake walking up to the two, holding their trays.

"Yeah," Blake said, nodding. "But it means that I'll have to find another pokemon to fill up my party."

"Hey, don't think about it like that!" Cynthia said, patting him on the arm. "You won't need a full party unless you make top 32 of the tournament. Maybe you'll lose before that!"

"…Not helping," Blake said, narrowing his eyes.

"You need pokemon?"

Blake turned his head, Serefina standing behind them.

"Um, yeah."

"Well, I actually came to find you guys and talk about class, but I think I might be able to help," Serefina said, smiling. "See, there are a bunch of wild pokemon out in the fields, I'm sure we can find you one or two to catch."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, students can catch as many pokemon as they wish," Serefina explained, "but they also have to take some of the responsibility for caring for them, the Caretakers can't do all of it. Hence, people generally don't have more than ten on campus at a time."

"You know, I always wondered, why can trainers only carry six pokemon at a time?" Cynthia asked. "Why not seven or eight?"

"Trust me, if you aren't taking caretaking courses, you have no idea how much work it is to take care of pokemon," Serefina said, shaking her head. "It's a lot of work. Which brings me back to the reason I came here."

Serefina handed Sango and Blake a clipboard.

"What is this?" Sango asked, confused.

"It's a schedule," Serefina said. "Students in the Pokemon Caretaking class must serve 3 hours of service every week taking care of the pokemon. So find times that work for you, okay?"

Blake and Sango looked over the dates and times on the clipboard and realized something pretty quickly.

"All of these times are taken," Blake said, frowning.

"…No, not all of them," Serefina said, pointing at the bottom of the page.

Blake looked at the time printed, and went pale.

"5:00 in the morning?" he asked, shocked.

"Yup, that's what happens when you're the last ones to sign up."

"No problem, I get up every day at 5 anyway," Sango said, smiling. "That's generally when I start my workout."

"Well, it's a problem for me!"

"Then you should have signed up earlier."

"Okay, thanks for signing up!" Serefina said, taking the clipboards. "Meet me at the Floette Fields after classes end, so we can help you capture another pokemon!"

"Alright, thanks," Blake said, Serefina heading off.

"Awesome, so it looks like you'll be able to participate in the tournament after all," Cynthia said, smiling.

"Looks like it."

"I don't see what the big deal about this tournament is, anyway," Sango huffed. "This school should hold its own version of the Ranger Games, THAT would be something that would be interesting."

"Oh, poor, stupid Sango," Cynthia said, shaking her head, smiling smugly. "Nothing can compare to the marvelous thing that is pokemon battling."

Sango narrowed her eyes.

"What was that?"

"Oh, nothing, but pokemon battling is the combination of strength and skill, and an example of the bond between trainer and pokemon. It excites people. Pokemon Rangers just tame wild pokemon, it isn't even on the same scale."

Sango slammed her hands on the table, glaring at Cynthia.

"Is that what you think?" Sango asked, frowning.

"Hey, I'm not trying to say that there's anything wrong with being a Pokemon Ranger, I'm just saying that it doesn't have the same level of excitement as a pokemon battle. Pokemonn Trainers are far more amazing."

Sango turned to Blake.

"…What?" Blake asked, looking up from his food.

"Do you agree with her?" Sango asked. "Do you really think that pokemon battles are more interesting then capturing a pokemon with a capture styler?"

"Yeah, Blake," Cynthia said, turning to look at him. "What DO you think about it?"

 _Seriously, why is it always me? Why couldn't those two have asked Nick instead?_

But Nick had wisely chosen to leave by that point, leaving only the three of them.

"Which are better? Pokemon Rangers or Pokemon Trainers?" The two asked in unison.

Blake put his utensils down, cleared his throat-

And promptly ran away.

"Ah…"

"Wha…"

"Geez, that idiot could have just been honest and said that Pokemon Trainers are better, he didn't have to run away…" Cynthia sighed.

"He wasn't going to say that, and you know it."

"Blake is a trainer, and that's because he knows how awesome it is. He just ran away because he didn't want to hurt your feelings."

"Maybe he ran away because he didn't want to hurt your feelings."

The two continued to glare at each other.

"Oh, it's just you two?"

Sango and Cynthia looked up to see Julia.

"Yeah, Blake was here earlier, but he ran away to spare Sango's feelings."

"That wasn't what happened!"

"…Okay, explain," Julia sighed, setting her tray down on the table.

…

Julia pressed her hand to her forehead after hearing the argument between the two.

"…You two are idiots."

* * *

Indeed they are.


	24. Chapter 23

Here's another chapter, sorry for the delay. I was working on a lot of other stuff.

Duskzilla: Well, they are idiots.

Wildlian: Well, he is smart, so yeah.

Darkhammer: Exactly, they're idiots.

Daozang: Yeah, Blake knew exactly when the time to leave was.

Tambry96bj: Don't worry, Kitty will get more confidence, for better or for worse. Kanone and Casey are around 25.

Jay Hayden: Hey, welcome back.

Guest: Thanks!

Anonymous: Sorry, not accepting OCs right now.

Guest 2: Sorry, not accepting OCs right now.

GrumpyDragon: Thanks!

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 23

* * *

The sun was setting over Viridian Forest, and the wild pokemon were abundant.

"Charizard, use flamethrower!" a trainer ordered his Charizard to unleash a blast of flames, hitting a wild Pidgeotto, badly burning it. The trainer tossed out a pokeball, capturing the flying type.

"Awesome! Way to go, Charizard!" the trainer said, patting his large dragon-like pokemon on the head.

Rustling grass was heard deeper in the forest. The trainer slowly moved towards the noise, being careful not to startle the pokemon.

Suddenly, a large, dark shadow jumped out from the brush.

"Whoa, what kind of pokemon is that?" the trainer asked, shocked. "I've never seen it before…!"

The trainer's Charizard opened its mouth, releasing a blast of flames at the shadowed pokemon.

The pokemon's jaws ripped open, firing a blast of flames far larger than the Charizard's. Its flames overwhelmed the fire type, pushing it backward.

"What-?" the trainer gasped.

Large red wings spread open, and the pokemon took to the sky. It shot towards the trainer and pokemon, long claws extended, electricity crackling through them. It struck the fire/flying type in the chest, the Charizard opening its mouth in a gasp, collapsing to the ground.

The black pokemon's maw opened wide, and it let out a fearsome howl, lunging at the trainer.

* * *

"Blake, BLAKE!" Cynthia exclaimed, knocking on his door rapidly. The minute Blake opened the door, Cynthia grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him inside.

"What?" Blake asked, yawning.

"Look at this!" Cynthia exclaimed, pointing to her television set. Sango and Julia were already watching, tense expressions on their faces.

"-the strange pokemon was described by trainers as being something they'd never seen before, at least not in the Kanto region," the reporter declared. "Half a dozen trainers and their pokemon have already been hospitalized, and fortunately there have been no deaths. However, the Viridian City and Pewter City gym leaders have declared it too dangerous to travel through the Viridian Forest until further notice. We have no idea if the pokemon is likely to migrate from its current location, or where it came from originally. We've contacted the lead authority on pokemon, Professor Oak, but he has been unable to identify the pokemon based on descriptions."

A picture of a blackened shadow appeared on the screen beside the reporter. The figure had large wings and a slender, bipedal frame, with wicked claws and a long mouth, with glowing yellow eyes.

"This picture has been made by compiling witness reports on the strange pokemon. However, witness have been unable to agree on several issues, and how representative this picture may be is up for debate. However, if anyone has any information about this species of pokemon, has seen a pokemon resembling this before, or encounters one like it in the future, please call the station at XXX-XXXX. Once we learn what pokemon this is, we'll be able to figure out how to restrain it. The only question left remaining is who IS that pokemon? Again, if you have any information, call-"

"Whoa…" Blake said, shocked.

"A wild pokemon that actively attacks trainers?" Cynthia said, frowning.

"Some of the trainers had very powerful pokemon," Julia said, frowning. "What kind of wild pokemon is strong enough to do that?"

"This is really bad," Sango said. "It looks like the Pokemon Rangers will have to step in."

"Yeah, this seems rather dangerous…" Cynthia said, frowning. "But someone has to step in to do something."

"I'm just glad we're nowhere near Viridian Forest," Julia said.

"Great…" Sango sighed, looking up from her phone. "I just got a message from the sarge, it turns out that the ranger cadets have to attend an emergency seminar on wild pokemon defenses. I gotta go."

Sango rushed out, everyone else staring warily at the television.

"So Blake, what are you going to do about only having 5 pokemon?" Cynthia asked. She and Blake were walking to class. "Did Serefina help you catch a new one?"

"No, she had something to do after classes were over," Blake said, shaking his head. "We rescheduled to meet up this afternoon."

"Oh, awesome!" Cynthia said, her eyes twinkling. "I can't wait! What pokemon are you going to catch? Any ideas? What about typing?"

Cynthia listed off half a dozen questions in a storm, Blake rubbing his head.

"I'll ask Serefina for help," Blake decided. "Who knows what kind."

"Maybe we should look at what types you currently have, and figure out what pokemon type you need to complete your team."

"Well, I do need a fire type, but there aren't a lot of those in the wild, and I don't think there are any wild ones on campus," Blake sighed.

"Oogh, yeah, I don't really use fire types either, because my Ruby is afraid of them," Cynthia said, nodding. "Maybe Serefina knows where to catch one."

"Yeah, I hope," Blake said, nodding.

"Well, I want to meet up with you guys," Cynthia said, nodding. "I bet I'll be able to help. Maybe I'll find a new pokemon myself!"

"Huh? But don't you already have a full team?"

"Yeah, but a new pokemon couldn't hurt. I need a little more offensive power, you know? Tristan just isn't enough in this tough environment."

"I guess."

"Oh, I can't wait!" Cynthia cheered.

After class, Blake and Cynthia met up with Serefina out on the Floette Fields.

"Okay, so sorry for having to cancel yesterday!" Serefina said, clasping her hands together apologetically.

"No, it's fine," Blake said, shaking his head. "as long as we can find one today, okay?"

"Yeah, no problem!" Serefina said, nodding. "Any ideas on what kind of pokemon you're looking for?"

"I was thinking about getting a fire type," Blake mused, "but I also thought that an electric type would be good, too."

"Well, unfortunately I don't think we have that many good fire types to catch, but there are a few," Serefina said, nodding. "Still, there are some electric types to catch as well."

Serefina clapped her hands.

"Okay, come with me!"

Serefina led Blake and Cynthia through the field, and they arrived at the plateau near the base of the large mountain just outside campus.

"We aren't going to have to climb that thing, are we?" Cynthia asked, already feeling sore.

"No, don't worry," Serefina said, laughing. "Look, over there."

She pointed at a small crack in the base, about the size for a person to slip through.

"The mountain has a strange electrical current in it, which draws electric pokemon. A lot of them enjoy spending time in the caves inside of it."

"Oh, cool!" Cynthia said, smiling. "Now we just have to get in there, huh?"

"Yeah, good luck," Serefina said, smiling.

"…You're not coming?"

"…" Serefina looked down.

"…I can't really fit."

"…" Cynthia and Blake both fought the urge to say something, simply nodding.

"Okay, let's go!" Cynthia ran over and began to move into the crack, Blake following after her.

"…Wow, Serefina wasn't kidding, this space is tight," Cynthia said. "Not only that, I can't even see where I'm going…"

Finally, the crevice opened up, and the two fell out into a larger cavern. The cavern was lit by several strange rocks that seemed to be crackling with electricity, the smooth walls reflecting it.

"Cool…" Cynthia said, excitement brimming in her voice. "Damn it, this place is so cool!"

Blake looked around, surprised at how bright the cavern was. There was something funny in the air as well, almost like…

"Oh!" Cynthia jumped back, Blake turning towards her.

"These rocks, they… ow!" Cynthia shook her hand, her hair standing on end.

"It must be the current Serefina was talking about," Blake said. "It's like static electricity."

"Yeah, I guess," Cynthia said, nodding. An evil smile crept onto her face as she reached towards Blake.

"Hey, back off!"

"Oh, come on, it doesn't hurt that much!"

Cynthia ran after Blake and grabbed his arm, Blake gasping in shock.

"Can you be serious for once?" Blake asked, shaking his arm.

"Come on, it's fun!" Cynthia giggled. "Don't pretend it isn't!"

"Yeah, whatever you say," Blake said, nodding. He began rubbing his hands together.

"Hey, come on, Blake, it's all for fun! I got shocked, you got shocked, we're good, right?"

"Yeah, we're good," Blake said, grabbing her arm.

"Gyaah! Jerk!"

The two exchanged shocks for a few minutes before facing off against each other, glaring, rubbing their hands fiercely.

"Wait, why did we come here again?" Cynthia asked, confused.

"To catch electric pokemon."

"Yeah, let's get back to that, shall we?"

"Sure."

"Okay then…" Cynthia began looking around for electric types, but none were seen.

"See anything?" Blake asked, placing his hand on the nape of her neck.

Cynthia cried out in pain, falling to the ground.

"I thought we were good!"

"We're good now."

"The hell we-"

"Wait, look."

Blake pointed at movement in the corner of the cave.

"Oh, like I'm falling for THAT."

"I'm serious, shut it."

Cynthia stood up, pushing past Blake, looking around the cave. Something brushed her leg, sending a small shock up it.

"Blake, I told you, cut it-"

Cynthia whirled around, only to see Blake a few feet away, and something still on her leg.

She looked down, a furry yellow pokemon latched onto her, blue eyes staring up at her.

Cynthia screamed and kicked the pokemon off, the electric type landing on the ground.

"Awesome, thanks Cynthia!" Blake tossed out a pokeball, which Tara emerged from.

"Tara, vine whip!"

A vine of grass shot out from Tara's wrist, swinging at the electric type.

The yellow pokemon opened its pincers, spitting a web at Tara, covering her.

"A bug type?" Blake asked, shocked. The web, still attached to the pokemon by a thin string, surging electricity through the thread and electrocuting Tara through the webbing.

"Tara, leaf blade!"

Tara sliced through the webs with blades of grass, and charged at the spider pokemon. She held her hands up and created a tornado in front of her, sending it forwards.

The spider pokemon was launched into the air, holding its pincers up, creating a sphere of electricity in front of it.

The electric ball shot towards Tara, who jumped out of the way, swinging her vine and hitting the spider in the side, knocking it into the wall.

The bug type spit more webbing at Tara, tripping her up, covering her in a cocoon of threads. The webs were then electrocuted, shocking Tara.

Tara broke out of the webs, trembling, and fell to the ground.

Blake returned Tara to her pokeball, and sent out Rogen.

The electric pokemon skittered around the rock type, and fired an electrified web at him.

Rogen pressed his claws on the ground, stones jutting out around him and shredding the webs.

Spikes of rock shot from the ground towards the spider, who dodged around it.

Rogen held his pincers up, creating a large stone, flinging it at the electric type. The spider jumped out of the way, but the ground around it opened up, stones trapping it in place.

Blake tossed out a pokeball, capturing the spider pokemon.

"Awesome!" Cynthia cheered, Blake picking up the pokeball.

"Okay, good," Blake said, returning Rogen to his pokeball as well. "We should probably get going."

"Really?" Cynthia sighed in disappointment. "But this place is so cool! Can't we stay for a little longer?"

"Why?" Blake asked.

"Well, a boy and girl alone in a cave, cut off from the rest of the world?" Cynthia said playfully, slightly lifting the hem of her skirt. "Anything could happen…"

"…Nope."

"Oh, you're no fun."

Blake and Cynthia squeezed out of the cavern entrance, the sun was setting.

"Wow, you guys were in there a while!" Serefina said, surprised. She noticed their messy hair.

"Oh, you guys weren't doing anything naughty, were you?" Serefina asked, smirking.

"Not for lack of trying," Cynthia sighed.

"Oh, shut up," Blake said, shaking his head, Cynthia nudging him in the side, grinning.

"So did you catch one?"

"Yup," Blake said, releasing the spider pokemon.

"Oh, a Joltik!" Serefina said, smiling.

"Yup, he's pretty energetic," Blake said, nodding. The Joltik looked up at him, nuzzling against his leg. Blake returned it to the pokeball.

"So, what about you?" Serefina asked, turning to Cynthia. "You catch anything?"

"No, not yet," Cynthia said, shaking her head. "And it's getting pretty late. Maybe tomorrow."

"Sure," Serefina said, nodding.

Serefina headed back to her dorm, Cynthia and Blake heading off as well.

"Still enough time left to get dinner, what do you say?" Cynthia asked.

"Sure, sounds good," Blake said, nodding.

The two headed out to the Snorlax Commons and got some dinner, sitting out on the veranda.

"Ah, how nice," Cynthia said, staring out at the sunset. "Kinda makes it seem like a date, huh?"

"…Seriously?" Blake asked.

"Yeah, you know, the atmosphere, it's late, two close people sharing a nice meal?"

"So, would you like to consider this a date, then?"

"Are you asking me out? On a REAL date?"

"I don't know, you're the one who's always acting so direct, aren't you?"

"Oh, what a pity," Cynthia said, shaking her head. "You see, actually-"

"Hey, what's up, guys?" Cynthia and Blake turned their heads, noticing Sango walk up to them.

"Oh, Sango," Cynthia said. "What's up?"

"Just came for a late meal," Sango said, sitting next to them, placing her tray on the table. "So, what were you guys talking about?"

"Cynthia was just asking me out on a date, weren't you?"

Sango turned to Cynthia in shock, Cynthia shaking her head.

"You know, Sango, you really know how to ruin a mood."

"Oh. Sorry."

"No, no, it's fine," Cynthia sighed. "But you did ruin a perfectly good sunset, you know that? I could have had Blake eating out of my hand."

"I would have turned you down anyway."

"No you wouldn't."

"Sure I would. I don't have time for dating right now, I have stuff to do."

"Well I didn't want to ask you out anyway."

"I guess that works out great then, huh?"

"Yeah, sure."

The two resumed eating their food in silence, Sango regretting showing up when she did.

"Well, joke's on you, Blake, I'll just go out with Sango instead."

"Um, wait, I don't like girls…"

"Well, maybe I'll ask Sango out instead."

"Wait, seriously?" Sango and Cynthia looked at Blake in shock.

"You just said you didn't have time for dating!" Cynthia said, frowning.

"Um… Blake, I… I don't think…" Sango desperately searched for words, before realizing that Blake wasn't actually serious.

"Well, maybe you're just a bigger hassle to date."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yeah, you're a pain in the ass sometimes."

"Well, fine. Date Sango all you want, I don't really care."

"Well, I'm not that interested in her to be honest, it was just a joke, relax."

"Thanks Blake. That really makes me feel good," Sango interjected.

"What, it's not like you were interested, right?"

"…No…"

"Blake I didn't know you were so stupid," Cynthia giggled.

"What?"

"Sango clearly has the hots for you, don't you realize that."

"No, I don't," Sango said, glaring at Cynthia.

"Yeah, well, I-" Cynthia looked out over the veranda, pausing.

"What?" Blake asked.

"Look at the sky…" Cynthia said, staring out at the starry sky.

"So beautiful…" Sango said, smiling.

"…" Blake looked at the sky, nodding.

"This feels pretty good," Sango said. "Friends hanging out together like this?"

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Cynthia said, nodding. "Friends with benefits hanging out together."

Sango and Blake slapped her across the head in unison, sighing.

The three continued talking late into the night, before returning to the dorm.

* * *

So, nice to see friends getting along so well.


	25. Chapter 24

Sorry it's taken so long to update. I've had some computer problems together with other issues and playing Sun and Moon. But don't worry, this should get back on track now. Sorry!

Jay Hayden: Sango's role will become clearer as she gets more development off of her relationships with her friends.

Daozang: Yeah, I like Joltik personally, it should be good.

Darkhammer: Thanks!

GrumpyDragon: It isn't Ho-Oh.

Duskzilla: Perhaps it can use other things too.

PikaBlast: Perhaps, but it might also be an Alola Pokemon.

MagicRick: Well, we'll see.

Arcana of the North: Pretty soon, don't worry!

SnowGirl29: Sorry, not accepting submissions right now.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 24

* * *

It was still dark out when Cynthia was jostled out of her restful sleep.

"Urgh… what?" Cynthia blinked several times, but couldn't see anything.

"Hey, Cynthia."

"Sango, is that you?" The half-asleep Cynthia had trouble making out the voice. "What do you want at-FIVE IN THE MORNING?!"

"Shush! Don't wake up Julia!"

"'Don't wake up Julia' my a-"

Sango clamped a hand over Cynthia's mouth. After a few seconds, she let Cynthia speak again.

"I was having very nice dream. Tell me why you woke me up before I push you off the bed."

"I need a favor."

"What kind of favor?"

"Well, my club is going on a hike up the mountain, and we're told that we're supposed to bring someone with us."

"…Fuck you."

Cynthia turned her body to face the wall and pulled the covers up to her neck.

"Oh, come on!" Sango shook Cynthia again.

"I am NOT climbing a mountain at five in the morning."

"Come on, I'll owe you! Name it!"

Cynthia sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"Fine, let me get dressed."

Sango stepped out of the room, a large pack on her back, Cynthia dragging hers behind her.

"Wait, hold up."

"What?"

"I'm not doing this by myself…" Cynthia yawned. She knocked on the door of the boys' room.

"Hey, Blake, open up."

No response.

Cynthia knelt in front of the door, pulling out a hairpin.

After a few seconds the door swung open, Cynthia sneaking into the room, Sango following after her.

"Geez, how many times do you break into Blake's room, anyway?"

"Only when I need to."

Cynthia began shaking Blake.

"Blake, wake up. We're going on an adventure to Candy Mountain!"

"Fuck you."

"Come on, Sango will do whatever you want if you go!"

"I didn't say that."

"Don't care. I'm sleeping. Go 'way."

Cynthia continued shaking Blake, until he finally sat up. Blake climbed out of bed, grabbing Cynthia by the shoulders.

"…Wh-what?" Cynthia asked, her face flushing.

Blake pushed her out of the room, shutting and locking the door.

"Hey!"

"Cynthia, just give it up. Let's go."

"…Fine."

Thankfully, Cynthia was able to get some sleep on the bus, and by the time they arrived at the base of the mountain, the sun was starting to rise.

Cynthia yawned, rubbing her eyes, as she and Sango headed off the bus.

"Okay, all, here are guidebooks on the mountain we're climbing. We should reach the top by noon."

One of the teachers was giving out instructions, but Cynthia wasn't really paying attention.

"The path is too narrow for a large group, so each of you will head up in pairs in five minute intervals. That way, if anything happens to one of you, the other can go down to the next group and ask for assistance."

While he was speaking, one of the assistants was handing out waver forms.

"Is this really a dangerous hike?" Cynthia asked suspiciously.

"It shouldn't be," Sango said, shaking her head.

"I can't wait!" Cynthia and Sango turned to overhear one of the students talking to a guy who was standing next to her.

"I know, they say the view at the top of this mountain is amazing!"

"Not only that but the top of the mountain… how romantic…"

"Hey."

Cynthia placed her hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Hm?"

"What was that you were saying? About being romantic?"

"Oh, see, Mount Shimmer has a special legend, that if a couple climbs to the very top together, then they'll be together forever!" the girl blushed, entwining fingers with her boyfriend.

"…" Cynthia turned to Sango, leering at her.

"What?!" Sango exclaimed, her face bright red. "I had no idea! Believe me! I thought it was just a normal hike!"

"I'm leaving."

"Come on, they won't let me climb by myself!"

"Why didn't you ask Blake to come?"

"Well, I mean…" Sango looked away. "That'd be worse."

"Oh, really?" Cynthia asked, turning back to Sango, smiling.

"Wait, I didn't mean…"

"Sure."

"Come on, Cynthia, I said I'll do anything if you went with me."

"…Anything?"

"…No. Not anything."

"Oh, come on. It's nothing too bad, I promise."

"Fine… what is it?"

Cynthia's lips curled up into a smile, and she stretched up, whispering into Sango's ear.

"Anything else? Please?"

"That's my price."

"…Fine. When do I have to do it?"

"I'll tell you when, don't worry."

"Fine, so you'll go, then?"

"Of course! I wouldn't want to disappoint my dear friend, Sango."

Cynthia, now reinvigorated, and Sango, now more than a little concerned, joined the other groups, and in a half hour or so, they were headed up the mountain.

Twenty minutes in, and Cynthia was already complaining.

"Slow… down… I can't… breathe…"

"There is no way someone with as much energy as you can be tired already!" Sango, not even out of breath, exclaimed.

"I haven't eaten at all today…" Cynthia complained. "And you're going way to fast…"

"I'm walking."

"Too fast…"

"You know we have to climb a vertical cliff, right?"

"…What?" Cynthia asked, color draining from her face.

"Yeah, the safest path to the peak involves a climb up a 40 foot escarpment."

"That canNOT be the safest path."

"Yeah, well, it is."

"Why can't I have any pokemon that know how to climb?" Cynthia bemoaned.

The two continued their climb, the sun beating overhead by the time they reached the rest point.

Cynthia collapsed onto the bench, resting in the shade of the overhang, her entire body covered in sweat. Sango was barely winded.

"Maybe the reason you're so short is because you're so unhealthy."

"My body… is healthier than yours… scrawny."

Sango glared daggers at Cynthia, who was too busy dying to pay attention.

"Okay, let's go," Sango said, standing up.

"Are you crazy?!"

"Are you coming or not?"

"I'll catch up… in, like… twenty years…"

By the time Cynthia was rested enough to focus, her body was only slightly sore. She stood up, blinking, and noticed Sango sitting on one of the logs that functioned as a makeshift stool.

"I thought you went ahead."

"I did, you just took so long I'm on my way back."

"Great, so we can go back…"

"I'm lying. I wouldn't go see the peak without you."

"Oh really?"

Cynthia tried to put on a flirtatious grin, but she was too exhausted, and it ended up looking more like a wince.

"Yeah, half my entertainment on this trip has come from watching your suffering."

"Don't play coy, I know you invited me on this trip because you like me."

"So, ready to finish the climb?"

"Yeah, no problem," as Cynthia tried to stand up, her legs gave out, sending her sprawling into the dirt.

"Some problems, it seems," Sango said, smirking.

"Nope, I'm not going to do any walking any time soon."

"Welp, see you then."

"Wait, you've gotta carry me."

"No."

"Like a princess."

"Even more no."

"Come on!"

"Even if I wanted to, you weigh way too much. I'm not some sort of super strength freak."

"Sure you are! You're totally a freak with superhuman strength!"

When Cynthia woke up a second time, her jaw hurt.

"Okay, feel better?"

"Can't stand up."

"Too bad. See, Blake and I start our service jobs next week. So if you're able to finish the climb, I might be able to get you pictures of Blake and Serafina's sleepy faces."

"Hey, what do you know? I made a full recovery!" Cynthia jumped to her feet, full of energy.

"That's what I thought."

The two continued their climb, a renewed sense of energy in Cynthia.

"Damn, how can you not be sweating?" Cynthia panted. "It's like a hundred degrees out here."

"Silver." Sango commanded. Her Castform hovered up next to her, breathing cool air on her neck and shoulders.

"…" Cynthia stared in shock for a few seconds.

"You cheater!"

Sango giggled, running further ahead. Cynthia chased after her for about a second before shaking her head, too exhausted.

"Okay, fine," Sango sighed, nodding to Silver, who went to cool Cynthia off too.

"Don't worry, the path is going to level off ahead, we can walk easy for a while," Sango said.

"Awesome."

Sango slowed down, Cynthia catching up to her so the two were walking side by side.

"So, Cynthia, you really are interested in Blake, huh?" Sango asked, smiling.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Oh, come on, you know."

Cynthia smirked.

"What if the answer was yes? Would you get jealous?"

"Blake and I are just friends. Do what you want, I won't mind."

"Uh-huh. Sure." Cynthia laughed to herself, smiling.

Sango smiled, and the cool wind blowing on Cynthia turned into a blizzard attack.

"Geez, I was just joking!"

"You'll appreciate the cold in a second, we're almost there."

Sango stopped, gesturing to the rock face in front of them.

"So, where's the path?" Cynthia asked.

Sango's finger turned up.

"…So, rock climbing?"

"Rock climbing."

"And, exit Cynthia stage right," Cynthia said, turning around, Sango grabbing her by the collar.

"Are you seriously going to abandon me on a mountain?"

"Oh, please! Someone like you could live out here!"

"…Okay, fine. Go ahead," Sango said, releasing Cynthia.

"Fine, I will."

"So, do you think you could find your way back by yourself? This is a pretty big mountain, you know. It would be bad if you get lost."

"Please, I just have to head down and I'll get there eventually."

"A lot of wild pokemon around here. Think you can get past them all?"

"You're just trying to scare me!"

"Please, if you think you could survive out here by yourself, be my guest. But you do realize that I'm the only hope you have for finding your way back, don't you?"

"…So, rock climbing?"

"Rock climbing, sounds great!"

"I've never done it before, can you show me what to do?"

"Sure, I'll lead. I brought all the equipment with me. Just follow the rope and try to get handholds. If the school allowed this trip, it shouldn't be a very difficult climb. We can even see the top."

After Sango hooked up their climbing gear, she turned to Cynthia, holding up the rope.

"Okay, I'm going to attach this, okay?"

"That-"

"And if you say 'that's what she said' I'm going to cut your rope halfway up."

"Well, that would be right around where you would attach a-"

"Cynthia!"

"Fine, shutting up."

As the two scaled the cliff side, Sango realized the climb was a lot harder than she'd anticipated. Probably because she was carrying 110lbs of unhelpful Cynthia behind her.

"Sango, I still can't get a good handhold!"

"Go… to hell…" Sango cursed.

As they continued, Cynthia began getting the hang of it, and the two began advancing their pace. As they got closer to the top, however, Cynthia stopped.

"Cynthia, what's up?" Sango called down.

"I don't know…" Cynthia said, twisting her head as best she could while clinging to the rock face.

"Did you look down?"

"Why, what's down?"

"Don't look-"

"Holy crap!"

"Why would you look down? Tell me, WHY would you look down?!"

"Sango, do you hear that?" Cynthia asked.

"Your scream? Yeah, it was pretty hard to miss!"

"No, it's not that…"

Sango stopped talking, and they heard a soft groan coming out from an outcropping a few meters away.

"Maybe someone got hurt!" Cynthia noted. She and Sango maneuvered towards the noises, climbing onto the ledge.

"It's a Gligar!" Sango said, kneeling next to the pokemon.

"He's hurt…" Cynthia noticed the cuts and bruises on the wild pokemon, gingerly turning him over.

"Poor thing…" Sango said, frowning.

"Oh no… his wing…"

Sango noticed what Cynthia was gesturing towards, a large fragment was torn in the ground type's bat-like wings.

"This is bad…" Sango said, frowning. "There's no way he'll be able to fly like this…"

"What should we do?" Cynthia asked.

"I'm not sure…" Sango said, frowning. "I've got my first aid kit with me, though." Sango unpacked her bag, and withdrew a first aid kit. She opened it, and the two began looking through.

"We can help heal the wound with the potion, but with his wing like this, he won't be able to fly anymore," Sango said sadly. "But if we leave him, then…"

"I've got it!" Cynthia said, her expression brightening.

"Huh?" Sango asked.

Cynthia held up a needle and some thread.

"We can stitch him up!" Cynthia explained, smiling.

"I don't know how to…"

"Don't worry, don't worry, I learned how to sew a long time ago. It's practically a part of lifestyle."

"Okay, don't worry, little guy," Sango said, kneeling next to the Gligar.

Cynthia used a potion to numb the gash, and then moved the flaps of leather into place. She began sewing, and after a few minutes, the wound was somewhat stitched up.

"Okay, we need to wrap this," Sango said. She wrapped the wound with a bandage and set it on the splint to keep the wing steady, as any movement might risk it healing incorrectly.

"Sorry, Sango, I guess we aren't getting to the top, huh?" Cynthia asked, frowning.

"Guess not," Sango said, nodding. "I guess we'll have to find some way to get this guy to the pokemon center back on campus, you think?"

"Yeah, I agree. The question remains how we do that."

"Good point," Sango frowned. "We can't really make the climb back down while holding an injured pokemon, can we?"

"I have an idea," Cynthia said, reaching into her bag. She withdrew a few pokeballs, to Sango's surprise.

"Pokeballs?"

"Yeah. After Blake caught that Joltik I thought it might be a good idea to catch a new pokemon or two for the tournament myself, so I bought a few. This way we can carry the Gligar down without having to worry about injuring it more, right?"

Sango nodded affirmatively, and Cynthia gently pressed the pokeball against the Gligar's forehead, capturing it.

"Okay, let's get going," Sango said, fastening the rope in place. The two girls moved down the mountain face, Cynthia cradling her bag gently. The two touched down on the ground, and made for the base of the mountain.

* * *

When they arrived at the base point, Sango spoke with one of the assistants, who said something to one of the bus drivers, and in a few minutes the two were headed back to the campus. The sun just started to set as they made it to the pokemon center.

"Um, we… need some help…" Cynthia, strained from the days' activities, gasped.

"Oh?" The nurse in the center turned to them, concerned. "What's the problem?"

"Oh, um…" Cynthia dug through her bag for the pokeball and presented it to the nurse, the worry evident on her face.

"We found a badly injured pokemon on a hike earlier today," Sango rescued Cynthia, placing her hand on her friend's arm. "We were hoping you could heal it."

"I'll see what I can do," the nurse said, nodding. She took the pokeball from Cynthia and hurried into the back, Cynthia sighing in relief. She moved to one of the waiting chairs and collapsed into it, all the strength suddenly gone from her body.

"Wow, today was exhausting…" Cynthia said, struggling to even sit upright.

"Sorry about all this," Sango said. "I'm surprised that hike was so difficult for you."

"I don't do much of that…" Cynthia said, shaking her head. "I'm sure you can see I'm not exactly she most athletic person."

"Yeah, I noticed," Sango said, nodding. A smirk crept onto her face. "By the way, since we never finished the hike, our deal is off."

"What?!" Cynthia exclaimed.

"You heard me."

"I nearly killed myself on that stupid trek! You are SO doing it!"

"A deal is a deal, and you didn't complete your end."

"I swear, when I can move again, I'll-"

"Excuse me."

The nurse's voice interrupted the two of them, Sango walking up to the counter as Cynthia just tried to listen closer.

"Well, I was very impressed by the first aid used to aid this poor Gligar. Thanks to your quick thinking, it looks like he's going to make a recovery," she said, a smile on her face, much to the relief of Sango and Cynthia.

"That's great," Cynthia said, smiling.

"If you don't mind me asking, miss, are you the one who transported this Gligar in a pokeball?" the nurse asked.

"Well, yes, but I…"

"Would you like to officially catch this Gligar?" she asked. "You see, this pokemon is already caught in your pokeball. If you'd like to officially register it as one of your pokemon here at the school, we can finalize the paperwork for it right now."

"Seriously?" Cynthia asked, excited, jumping to her feet, reinvigorated by this news. "Yeah, that would be great!"

"Excellent," the nurse said, smiling. "Still, you need to make sure he gets a lot of rest. His wounds are starting to heal, but it will be a while before he'll be able to fight."

"Yeah, sure," Cynthia said, nodding.

"Excellent. Well, then, I'll get the forms for you." The nurse hurried off into the back room once again.

Sango turned to Cynthia, patting her on the back in congratulations.

"See? This hike wasn't for nothing after all, right?"

"Oh, you still have to do it."

"Not a chance."

* * *

So, I'm back, and I hope I can get these out a little faster now.


End file.
